http://www.aware.org/selfdefense.shtml

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Statistics show that a woman now 21 years old has a 1 in 4 chance of experiencing a violent crime in her lifetime. For them, much information is already available about how to reduce their risk (“stay alert”) and how to respond if something bad happens (“fight back”).
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Sometimes, violence comes despite the best possible avoidance measures, and when it does, there is often no opportunity to summon help. In those cases, a woman is forced to face her attacker alone, using only her own resources and knowledge to survive. Fortunately, women who are properly trained and confident in their ability to protect themselves can do so quite effectively.
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Crime rates? Who cares?

Who cares? Really. Do you care whether the violent crime rate is one per thousand or two per thousand? People tend to use crime statistics in one of two ways: to scare people into thinking that they are likely to be a crime victim, or to convince people that they are so unlikely to be a crime victim that they don’t have to do anything to protect themselves.
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Knowing your attacker does not change your right to self-defense, and it should not change your conviction that you are worth defending.
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Traditionally women have been given a selection of options that are either impractical, ineffective (“Spray him in the eyes with hairspray”, “Get a rape whistle”), or don’t cover the whole spectrum of possibilities in which self-protection might be necessary. For example, advice such as “Don’t go into dangerous areas at night, stay home” ignores the fact that a high percentage of rapes occur when the woman is in her home, and also ignores the fact that some women must work after dark!

This advice also ignores the fact that some women are being targeted for violence by assailants who will not be deterred by casual protective measures which would work against random crime or low levels of threat.
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Is it better to fight back, or not?

It’s virtually always better to fight back, particularly if you are trained in how to fight back appropriately. Women who fight back are injured less often, are more successful in stopping the attack, regardless of what kind of attack it is, and feel better about themselves afterwards.
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