Fustany Team 
Unfortunately, violence against women has become quite common in the Middle Eastern communities. It varies between physical and psychological violence, and although many women rights organizations are working hard on limiting this phenomena, it is no longer enough. This is why it’s very important now for every woman to know the right techniques to protect herself from any violent attack.
If you’re afraid of getting mugged or harassed in the street or afraid of any kind of domestic violence, then you need to know about self-defense techniques to help you out in such situations.
Learn a new self-defense sport:
You don’t have to be a professional at a self-defense sport to be able to defend yourself. It’s enough to know the principles and the important moves you can easily master and implement on your attacker. Here are some of the sports that would help you do that; kick boxing, karate, and Kung Fu. These sports are more than enough to help you become stronger and be able to fight back. What's surprising with self-defense sports is that it's usually the small moves that make a big difference.
Pepper spray:
- Using non-lethal self-defense weapons might be illegal in some countries (like electric shocks), and for that we advise you to use something like pepper spray. It can blind your attacker for a few minutes and give you time to run and save your life.
- You can make the pepper spray at home; all you need is 2 big spoons of red hot chili pepper powder, ethyl alcohol (available in all pharmacies), baby oil, a small glass and a spray bottle. Mix well the hot chili pepper powder with the ethyl alcohol then add five drops of baby oil. Mix them all well together in the empty glass, then pour the mix in the spray bottle and keep it in your bag.
- In the unforeseen case of getting attacked, spray the pepper spray right in your attacker’s eyes and nose.
Use the emergency call feature on your cell phone:
You should be always prepared, make an emergency call list on your telephone with the people you know will respond to your call immediately like family members or close friends. Making an emergency call list is very useful, it helps you reach them much faster without having to dial the full number or going through your whole contact list.
Seek the nearest police station and report about the incident and the harasser:
If you ever get harassed in the street you should report it immediately, don’t get shy or feel guilty, reporting harassers help the community become a better place. Try to snap a picture of your harasser secretly so you can present it to the nearest police station, that is of course if that doesn't put you in danger. Remember reporting about sexual harassers can help prevent and minimize this terrible phenomenon.
Seek women rights organizations:
There are many organizations that only focus on helping women who fell victims to domestic abuse, sexual harassment and any other form of violence overall. Seek them, they will offer you a helping hand to stop the violence committed against you. They can help you legally and emotionally.
Other forms of self-defense women should know about:
- When you take a taxi, make sure you take the taxi’s license numbers and send it to your friends instantly, and make sure he knows you did this to prevent the chances of kidnaping or rape.
- Stay away from dark and dangerous allies when you are walking alone in the streets.
- Memorize few numbers of close ones to you. Memorize the numbers just in case you found yourself in trouble with no cell phone.
- If your husband is beating you and you are being faced with domestic violence, seek your parents at once, or his parents. Always have proof, whether pictures or hospital reports, in case it's ever repeated, know this, what your husband is doing is illegal and is punished by the law, so let the law protect you.
