We've had this discussion on here before, somewhere
Given that most women need a good ten seconds to fish for stuff from their handbags, a can of pepper spray is bloody useless, unless you have it in your hand and use it before the attack. Which is then premeditated use. Which is a legal minefield. If your attacker on crack hasn't decided to kill you already, enraged at your assault on him / her.
Damsel in Distress: "You wait there one moment, you rascal, while I look for..."
Highwayman: "Certainly, Madam, I believe in courteous robbery and assault".
False sense of security, anyone..? Brains are the best defence.
Pepper spray is legal in Switzerland, just as your fists and feet can be used as weapons, you also have to be a bit careful.
I worked at the US Embassy in Bern and did the spray course, approved by Bern police. Aim for the chest just below the mouth, one second squirt and run like hell. Carefully go back and see if he / she is OK: you have a responsibility, you can't leave them to die. But don't get close! Call ambulance and police.
Some "foreigners" who eat lots of spicy food can be immune to pepper spray!
They are on sale at any gun shop, I was offered 3 strengths, cost about Fr 25,-- Buy the strongest and take a self defense course. Working with Protectas we were officially advised to talk to the person, if that didn't work, run away fast (You don't have to be polite and say goodbye, just go!)
2) Using anything in self-defense in Switzerland is allowed within reason - except if you shoot someone holding a knife for example, you can be held accountable for their death (similar to other countries, negligent homicide I believe it is called).
3) A word of warning about pepperspray: as previously stated there are different active "ingredients" used. The ones with CS are extremely dangerous (the normal ones are also quite dangerous). I am a certified Level 2 Instructor for pepperspray (courtesy of the Swiss military) so I do know what I am talking about here. PEPPERSPRAY IN ALL CASES IS EXTREMELY HARMFUL AND CAN LEAD TO LIFELONG DAMAGE IF SPRAYED INCORRECTLY. Some of the examples can be seen online if you dare Google it.
Best means of defense: 117 or run, if possible, IMHO.
There was an incident at my daughter's school a couple of weeks ago. A couple of primary 2 kids found a cannister of pepper sray in the bushes in the school grounds. Being inquisitive little tikes, they gave it a couple of squirts .
30-odd kids were affected, some being briefly hospitalised as they were asthmatics. The school sent kids home early for lunch, but normal lessons were resumed in the afternoon. My daughter was pretty upset, she wasn't affected directly, but one of her friends was taken to the hospital.
God only knows what it was doing there, but apparently the police had been called there a couple of evenings beforehand as there some teenagers were drinking and creating a lot of noise ij the school grounds.
Forget pepper spray. I agree with those who are recommending self defense maneuvers. I say headbutting is the way forward.
Way back when in uni, I knew this one girl. She seemed a softie but had apparently done some jail time. She had been arrested for numerous fights, including one where she put a girl in the hospital for several weeks. Seems she headbutted her. She swears this technique has worked for her on many occasions.
perhaps one of the worst advices I have ever heard. 9/10 a headbut misses its target and you only hurt yourself. you need to be the same height ie by the time you jumped enough to headbutt me youd be already on the ground cause I pushed you will you jumped.
the implications of cracking someones skull/nose carry on much further than people will believe meaning that you will likely go to jail if something happens to the other one.
best thing is like said before dial 117 (even if you dont reach them they call you back and located you) and run
I'm waiting for my husband to jump in and respond to this one because he has a story of a short guy absolutely givin' it to a tall guy by using an epic headbutt. Height doesn't matter at all if you do it right.
As for jail implications, I'm pretty sure that if I'm in danger as a woman and I react this way in self defense, jail time is not only unlikely but a better alternative than being seriously injured or killed.
Indeed: if you're particularly short and your assailant is particularly tall, you have a very good chance of headbutting him in a very uncomfortable place.
Anyway, my advice (borne of grim experience) for anyone who is attacked: run away and make lots of noise.
You'll lose face, but it's better than losing your face.
so our story would be that 1/10. here is another story. My brother got attacked by 3 guys, he knocked one out, guy fell with head on table and cracked open his skull. guess who got in ALOT of trouble for it?
I definitely agree that headbutting is a risky approach in that if done wrong, you can seriously injure yourself. No debate here. I just think that where it is done properly, you can do rapid, immediate damage by immobilizing your attacker such that you can escape to safety. Also, where there's a serious size and strength inequality, it can be very effective as well.
Yes, because it's totally humiliating for a woman to turn away from a fight. ;p
An attacker would probably expect me to run and I doubt I'd get away unless I injured him first. There's a strong surprise factor with headbutting that contributes to its effectiveness.
But agreed that if running away was possible, I'd initially go that route. Making noise is good too, headbutt or not.
Hmmm... if I recall correctly from happy evenings in Cannock pubs, a headbutt is usually preceded by a characteristic swing backwards of the head, giving the recipient enough time to work out what's about to happen, unless he's horribly drunk and a bit slow.
It is also worth observing that during that characteristic swing backwards of the head, the throat is beautifully exposed for the pleasure of the assailant.
Don't piss about with this kind of nonsense. If you smell danger, get the **** out of there. Your assailant is almost certainly better at and more experienced in administering pain than you are.
Not to mention that headbutting them requires you to be rather close to your assailant (who, as DB implied, is likely to be a more experience fighter than you). Unless you get lucky (1 in 10, you say?) then you've just made yourself an easy target. Good luck with that.