Education, Awareness and Self Defense - Overcoming Rape

Rape and sexual assault are despicable crimes that go against everything I learned growing up. As a kid I was raised to understand very clearly that two things were absolutely unacceptable and those two things are child abuse and female abuse. Unfortunately, the values that many of us had instilled in us is not even on the radar for others. In fact, statistics show that at least 1 in 3 women are victims of abuse and the abuser is typically a member of the family. Falling in line, nearly 77% of rape victims report being raped by someone they knew. Nearly 700,000 women are raped each year and this is just those that report the crime. Many believe that less than half of all rape victims come forward and file a criminal report. Most are fearful of further abuse or retribution. Only about 2% of rapists are actually convicted and imprisoned. Where is the disconnect here? What's wrong with this picture? Almost daily I receive calls from parents who want to provide a means of self defense for their children. Many parents of females are extremely fearful of their daughters falling victim to date rape or some type of sexual assault. In reviewing the statistics, they have good reason to feel concern. Some are about to send children off to college, others worry that they cannot be with their children during the day, and still others want to provide protection as they commute to and from the work each day. Concerned parents everywhere have one thing in common. Above all else, they want their kids to be safe. Very few parents or their kids are comfortable carrying a handgun, but more and more are choosing non-lethal self defense products for protection. As technology continues to improve so does the overall effectiveness of non-lethal self defense products. For example, many experts feel that a C2 TASER has the same effectiveness and stopping power as a 9mm handgun! Many people not familiar with taser devices often question this. The only real way to convince some is to ask them to volunteer to be shocked with a taser device. Those who have will overwhelmingly agree that if you need to stop an aggressive attacker in his or her tracks the C2 TASER is up to the task. Though the cost can be an issue, I often recommend the TASER to many parents to help safeguard their child's well being. One eye opening fact is that over sixty percent of female rape victims are under the age of 18 and 83 percent of those raped are under the age of 25. When I do have an opportunity to speak with parents and/or their female children I stress education and awareness. This is time well spent and their are many organizations that will help with the education and provide the necessary resources free of charge. By educating yourself and your children about the different forms of sexual assault you greatly reduce the chance of them becoming a victim. It is also very important that we get high school counselors, fraternity and sorority leaders involved in topics such as rape prevention. This is more important than many of you think. In a study of over 3000 college males who committed rape (as legally defined), 84% said what they did was definitely not rape.... Education and awareness, combined with self defense products could literally prevent countless amounts of crime. Often times, a TASER is either too expensive or does not meet the customers needs. For many, pepper spray is the best line of defense. It is inexpensive, works almost instantly, effective against individuals under the influence of drugs and alcohol and the effects last 20 to 30 minutes. In addition, pepper spray products work well against humans as well as aggressive animals and increasingly pepper spray and Mace are becoming available in disguise (i.e. lipstick pepper spray). Finally, sexual assault is a problem in the gay and lesbian communities. A study of college gay, lesbian and bisexual students found that nearly 20 percent had been victims of rape and 12 percent victims of attempted rape. Anyone who doesn't feel that rape and sexual assault present serious problems to the well being of our young people and society is kidding themselves. If you are or have been a victim and need help should contact RAINN at http://www.rainn.org/