Strategies for being safe:

1. Trust your intuition.
2. Stand up tall and use good posture.
3. Be alert and aware of your surroundings.
4. Avoid deserted or dangerous places.
5. Travel in a group or with a friend.
6. Plan ahead: know the route, have identification & money for a phone call
   

Three levels of defense:

1. Speak loudly and be assertive to set a boundary.
2. Move away a safe distance or to a safe place.
3. Use physical techniques if you have to, to save yourself.

Practice:

1. Yelling and loud speaking
2. Visualize using your defense moves, and practice them weekly.
3. Ask yourself, am I willing to hurt someone else in order to survive?
4. If I get hurt, am I willing to keep fighting to survive and get away?

The "Rules":

1. Do not give personal information to strangers or casual acquaintances.
2. You do not have to be polite, especially to those whom you do not know.
3. Remember that perpetrators are liars, they will tell you anything to get what they want.
4. If he or she wants your money, give it up; throw it away from your body.

Your commitment:

1. I will not be taken to a second crime scene.
2. I will make noise and fight to avoid being put into a stranger's vehicle

Your weapons:

1. Hands
2. Fingers
3. Nails
4. Teeth
5. Head
6. Elbows
7. Knees
8. Feet

Targets to aim for:

1. Eyes and throat
2. Nose or septum
3. Solar plexus
4. Groin
5. Shin or knees
6. Instep or foot
7. Inner or outer thigh

Techniques to remember/practice:

1. Defensive stance
2. Pivot
3. Point of reference
4. Palmheel strike
5. Web hand strike
6. Eye strike (claw)
7. Lateral elbow strike
8. Rising elbow strike
9. Rear elbow strike
10. Hines break and one-handed wrist grab release
11. Long cane defense into the body or face