I think we all have been there.

Walking on a road alone at night on the way to home, a sudden fear curls up the head, feeling as if someone is following you. You are thinking, ” What am I supposed to do now?” You just start to take long steps, or maybe even run, until you reach to your home. Or, sometimes, the dread of horror catches your breath at some strange noises at your apartment that provokes us to think that someone is intruding in your bedroom. Your mind remains stuck with these imaginary horrors, and to prevent them from becoming them into real ones, you are taking precautions,

Don’t walk alone at night.
Become obsess about locks.
Don’t respond if a stranger calls.
But that can never be solved in this way.

Almost every day, we read in the newspaper the accounts of brutal crimes against the woman–rape, assault, murder, attacks, etc. These incidents are the exact expression of the feeling of the dominance of one person over another; to prove the male dominance over the women. Women like to remain submissive and are always unwilling to fight back, so women are supposed to be afraid. The time has come to break the image of stereotypical women. But how? Only if a woman learns how to protect herself, how to defend herself from becoming the victim. We are living in such an increasingly violent society, where self-protection or self-defense remains the only possible way to sustain in such a society.

There is widely held ideas or beliefs about self-defense of women.

1) I never walk alone at night outside of the home. So how can it happen to me?

What a foolish idea. Do you know sexual assault mostly occurs at victim’s place? And the attacker may be among the persons you know so well. The harassment may come from the most unexpected person you know.

2) I associate with educated people. They can never turn into rapists.

A person’s social status or educational excellence never assures non-crime attitude. Violence stretches its arm among all socio-economic classes.

3) Neither I look attractive, nor do I dress in such a way that can hardly provoke a man.

Oh God. Do you think simple and all body covered outfits can prevent you from the clutches of violence? That means you think that always the victim is to blame. A man does not rape a woman to show how attractive she is, but how easy she is to dominate and control.

4) I am too weak or puny to learn the martial arts.

Learning martial arts, does not mean that you need to break the boards or do boxing. All you need is to protect yourself whenever an attacker approaches, and that will go very much with some basic techniques of martial arts. There is no need to be strong to learn those moves.

But, it is also true that if you possess the lack of self-confidence, no martial technique can help you to survive in front of an assailant.

Tips and Tricks for Self-Defense: Learn How to Stand up Against Crime

The word self-defense may evoke the sense of kicking and punching, but its necessity for a woman’s safety is beyond breaking boards.

A stressful situation invokes either the sense of terror collapsing the mind or the strength to fight against the violence. Now, you decide what is preferable to you? Heart pounds, don’t know what to do, freeze in front of the assailant. Or, control your fear, and fight back. The techniques and skills of self-defense will help you to learn to fight and overcome the tendency of freezing in front of a crime.

Use your fifth senses- Do you walk on the streets putting the mp3 player into your ears? Well, music lovers you have to quit this habit. Why? Because you need to aware of everything around you while you are outside your house. Listen, watch and feel the total environment around you. Because self-awareness is the first line of self-defense. If you sense something wrong, then immediately walk among the crowd, and walk with confidence. Instead of running away, face your attacker, look into the eye of him. This kind of attitude will dissuade an attacker. Or, you may yell for help.

Self-defense training- Do not try to reach the excellence in martial arts or karate. Just focus on some moves and techniques that will help you to stay alive in front of an attacker.

A. If the attacker approaches you from behind, knock down his shin bone throwing off your heel at it. Even if your attacker is well-built, he will fall on the streets. But my advice is to avoid high-heeled shoes as much as you can. Usually, they will slow down your pace while you are trying to escape from the attacker.

B. If someone is heading towards you suddenly, punch hard at the bridge of his nose. If the attacker approaches you from behind, jerk your head back and hit on the nose. If you are good at your aim, then you can get your life-and-death seconds to run away. Let him torment of his aching or bleeding nose.

C. Another technique is to grasp the ear of your attacker and squeeze his eye with your thumb. The assailant will be busy then rubbing his painful eye. What should you do now? RUN!

D. You may carry pepper spray or other kinds of aerosol spray in your handbag. It causes momentary blindness to an attacker. But do you know that pepper spray may become ineffective sometimes? Moreover, if you miss your aim, I mean to say, suppose the spray hit the cheek of the assailant instead of the eye, he may become even more violent.

Home-invasions – This crime is high on the rise. How to prevent a home invasion? Follow these things:

a) Never open the door if there is a stranger.
b) Lock your doors and windows properly before going to bed at night.

Even still a stranger breaks into your house, hide in a safe room.

Wait a minute!

You don’t have a safe room yet? Oh, then get yourself a room which will be highly secured–a dead-to-break door, a dead bolt lock, a phone, etc.

Car-jacking- Criminals, who are the expert in the car-jacking, frequently come from nowhere and either pull you out of the car or get themselves in your car. So, while driving, don’t open the window if a stranger knocks, except the cop. And always keep the doors locked.

Keep yourself safe on a vacation- Tourists very often become the prime target to the beasts of prey, and especially when it is a woman travelling alone. During holiday trips, to keep yourself safe follow these instructions:

1) Always keep your hotel room locked while you are inside.
2) Do not open the door if there is a stranger on the other side. And if someone says that he works at the hotel, call the receptionist first to confirm.
3) On the way to the journey, if a stranger offers you something to eat or drink, refuse to his offer.
4) Ask for if there is valet parking available.

The thought of being attacked or assaulted from nowhere is itself dreadful and frightening. But this does not mean that you live each moment of your life in a paranoid. You can’t control your life or situation. But, being expertise in the self-defense training can make you feel confident. No matter what situation you fall into, you have the strength to face it. So, follow your intuition and learn how to defend a crime.

Source by Oindrila Bhattacharyya