Steve
Mostly Harmless
@shesulsa brought a long dead thread back and that got me to wondering if we could have a constructive discussion about women's self defense. I know it hasn't gone well in the past, for a variety of reasons, but I have reason to be optimistic.
I am a big fan of teaching people what actually works and not simply exploiting peoples' fear. I also like the idea of being objective enough to know the difference.
I've mentioned that the only actual, scientific study on self defense I've seen offered some surprising conclusions, and I've referenced it before. If you're interested in reading about a women's self defense program that seems to have been very effective, take a look.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1411131#t=articleBackground
Along with a 2 year follow up:
journals.sagepub.com
And they now have an SARE center that focuses on women's self defense specifically
sarecentre.org
Some takeaways I see from these various resources.
I am a big fan of teaching people what actually works and not simply exploiting peoples' fear. I also like the idea of being objective enough to know the difference.
I've mentioned that the only actual, scientific study on self defense I've seen offered some surprising conclusions, and I've referenced it before. If you're interested in reading about a women's self defense program that seems to have been very effective, take a look.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1411131#t=articleBackground
Along with a 2 year follow up:
SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals
Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
And they now have an SARE center that focuses on women's self defense specifically
Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act Education Program (EAAA)

Some takeaways I see from these various resources.
- While some Wen Do Women's Self Defence training is included in the program, it's not prioritized. The emphasis of the self defense training is on soft skills such as assessing danger, promoting confidence and self-worth, empowerment, and things like that.
- Incidents of rape and sexual assault were dramatically reduced for women who took the course, and those who were raped or sexually assaults were much less likely to blame themselves for the assault.
- The program effectively debunked many rape myths, and also the idea that women often precipitate their own rape.
- The program is relatively short, suggesting that the benefits of a self defense program can be realized without spending a bunch of money buying a protracted self defense program from a self-proclaimed SD expert who has no actual experience.