How women protect themselves from attacks

Barbara Reik 's compact guide shows practical exercises and gives valuable tips for more safety

The issue of violence against women is more relevant than ever. Instead of spreading more fear, the trained trainer discusses the options for protecting yourself in advance or for fighting back in an emergency.

Afraid? No thanks!
It has always been a controversial topic, but due to current events it is increasingly becoming the focus of public interest: violence against women. Despite all the justified discussions about changes to the law or security measures, the perspective of those affected is unfortunately rarely taken into account. Barbara Reik, Tai Chi teacher and wellness trainer, who has herself been confronted with violence on several occasions, wants to use her new book to help women develop or regain their self-confidence. In her opinion, this is an important prerequisite for prevention, but it also helps to avoid being pigeonholed into the role of victim during and after an attack.
Reik clearly positions her compact guide "Safe as a Woman" against violence and fear and for security and joy in life. "The best way out of violence is not to allow it to happen, to avoid it. If that is not possible, then it is important to be well prepared for it. Even if it has happened, life goes on and it should go on well," the author explains.

Self-confidence as prevention
Security is a fundamental need for all people. It describes the state of being protected from danger and harm. This means that women in the western world can generally move around safely in their everyday lives. Recently, a general sense of insecurity has spread, which is also supported by the media. We read about physical attacks on women. This is nothing new, as there have always been attacks on the female sex. In a physical attack on a woman, neither the origin, religion nor age of the attacker plays a role.
"Such an attack injures a person's body and soul and is unacceptable," the author explains, and recommends: "So let's women start working on our behavior, because this is easier and more promising than hoping for the good behavior of others." The more women work on their own safety and the more they believe in themselves and their strength, the safer and freer their environment becomes. Because then they can count on help in an emergency instead of ignorance, avoid a conflict without feeling like a loser and weak, and participate in life again after a physical attack - instead of isolating themselves from life out of fear and self-doubt.

Exercises against fear
But how do you achieve a state of self-assurance? Self-assurance requires good self-confidence. Unsettled by press reports, stories from friends and self-doubt, many women have an energy-sapping mental movie running through their heads every day. They imagine where, what and how it could happen. But you can learn to use fear as an early warning system for your own safety by training your self-confidence and body awareness. This includes having a secure footing as a base, breathing calmly and having a good, upright posture, which gives the body a sense of security and shows a potential attacker that they are dealing with a secure personality.
In addition, the author also shows effective defense techniques and recommends attending self-defense courses to learn how to deal with provocation and how to find ways to resolve a threatening conflict peacefully. It can be very helpful to confront the idea of ​​being attacked. This means taking time to deal with your own fear and imagining how what you are afraid of could actually happen and how you should react. If something does happen, the author believes it is important to get help. In addition to a detailed practical section, "Safe as a Woman" therefore contains helpful addresses and tips to help you assert your rights and find your way back to life.

Book tip:
Barbara Reik: Safe as a woman. Compact guide. How to protect yourself from attacks. Mankau Verlag, 1st edition October 2016, paperback, full color, 127 pages, 7.99 euros (D) / 8.20 euros (A), ISBN 978-3-86374-299-7.

Link recommendations:
More information about the compact guide "Safe as a woman"
To the reading sample in PDF format
More about the author Barbara Reik
To the Internet forum with the author Barbara Reik