Items tagged children

Street Harassment the Uncomfortable Walk

Before reading those stories, and posting, I accepted it as the norm to get harassed all the time.” (Hollaback participant, 2012) –

Now we all can admit that hearing “That I Notice You” whistle or look might actually brighten up your day, but what can you do if it progresses into an uncomfortable situation: whistle blowing, hisses and the stares. Many do not understand what is the ‘Big Deal”. Non-contact unwanted sexual experiences were the most common form of sexual violence experienced by both women and men.

Event though the assailant is not being physical public harassment is still pretty close to your Personal Safety Zone. The assailant might not even notice they are speaking the language of Sexual Terrorism. It could all be apart of their Social Anxiety Defense Mechanism stemming from low self-esteem.

Street Harassment on College Campuses
Recently the company behind the Hollaback! App collected 282 undergraduate, graduate and part-time college students and 44 college administrators on campuses from the urban, suburban and rural U.S. to find out how harassment exists in spaces of higher education.
• Students are being harassed on their college campuses (67% of students experienced harassment),
• Harassment is limiting student’s ability to benefit from education,
• Current campus systems and processes are insufficient.
• Over 99 percent of women report facing some form of street harassment.
• 95 percent of women report being the target of leering or excessive staring at least once.
• More than 37 percent of women have had a stranger masturbate at or in front of them at least once in public.
• Nearly 57 percent of women reported being touched or grabbed in a sexual way by a stranger in public.
• Over 77 percent of women said they were the targets of kissing noises from men.
• About 62 percent of women say a man has purposely blocked their path at least once.
• About 27 percent of women report being assaulted at least once in public by a stranger.

“But I found myself forcing myself to bring it up and to tell people about it and to, even like, people I wouldn’t normally tell this to, like my Dad… Hollaback cultured my feeling that this should be shared.”
The only way we can become a fighting voice for all of those who cannot.

Sources: http://www.ihollaback.org/
SOURCES: Stop Street Harassment, Feministe/Patrick McNeil, Center for American Progress

Give A Potential Attacker the Finger!

“It’s like a blue light in the palm of your hand.”

With attacks on unsuspecting victims popping up left and right, it’s always boggled my mind that there hasn’t been a way to immediately and discreetly contact the police vs. calling 911 outright. The latter is a dead give away to any potential aggressor that you’ve called for help. With all the modern technology out there, I thought, why can’t people somehow TEXT 911?

While mobile phones have helped a lot of people escape dangerous situations that are detrimental to personal safety and well-being; smartphones have tried to take it to the next level. I’m not armed with data or analytical insight here but in general, smartphones have not been a radical addition to this security issue. There are apps which help you alert the cops and your friends when you are in danger. SafeTrek is one such app, a very ingenious one at that. SafeTrek promises to significantly enhance student safety by augmenting the infrequently-used “blue light” emergency phone systems on many college campuses.

SafeTrek is a security app for the iPhone and Android. It’s a very simple app which – when used and triggered – will alert the cops silently with a danger-alert tagged with your current location. When you feel unsafe, all you have to do is tap and release a button on the app. The Safe Trek system includes an app where students worried about their safety can hold down a large virtual button that causes the phone to vibrate and the screen to animate. If the user doesn’t input a private PIN within ten seconds, the local police dispatcher receives a web alert that tracks the student’s path on a map. The dispatcher and student can exchange text messages or speak directly until the situation is resolved

Many lives have been saved because of SafeTrek. Whether a user is walking down an alley late at night or hears a strange noise in his/her own home, SafeTrek offers a guarantee of security when the user might not be able to call the police on their own.

Designed to beat the time it takes to dial 911 and send your SOS message, SafeTrek started as a small project but has found some widespread success. The app works very simply:

If you feel unsafe – say, when you are out in the night or going through deserted streets with suspicious folks strolling around – open the app and press-and-hold on the Safe button.
• After you are out of the unsafe zone and are sure that you are safe, remove your finger from the button and enter a PIN to cancel the alarm system which will send a message to the authorities.
• In case you are in an emergency, all you do is remove the finger from the Safe button. In ten seconds, if you don’t do anything, the SOS will be sent and your location will be tracked/monitored constantly.
• You can cancel the alert in ten seconds.

Hey Mom/Dad, What About Me?

Check The Back Seat, Before You Stand On Your Feet

This rising epidemic of children dying in cars is out of hand. As a parent, the fear of any of my children dying before me is one of my worst nightmares. It seems as if there is a new story daily of a parent arrested or distraught over the death of a child left behind. Whether intentional or not, the loss of life through heat and dehydration is a miserable death.

According to SafeCar.gov, here are a few Risks & Consequences:

Risks:
– In 10 minutes, a car can heat up 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
– Cracking a window does little to keep the car cool.
– With temperatures in the 60s, your car can heat up to well above 110 degrees.
– A child’s body temperature can rise up to five times faster than an adults.

Consequences:
– The heat-related death of a child.
– Misdemeanor with fines as high as $500 – and even imprisonment in some states.
– Felony, depending on the state, if bodily harm results from leaving kids alone in a hot car.

Here are a few tips to prevent leaving a child in a car:

1. Stay off the phone! As a self-defense professional, I am dumbfounded by the lack of attention to life while talking or texting on a cellphone. I swear it is situational awareness’ arch nemesis. I’ve personally seen a teenage girl sideswiped as she walked into oncoming traffic blindly texting on her phone. It is the ultimate distraction in which the convenience causes some many negative consequences.

2. Talk to your child. The demands of our lives leaves little room for quality time with our loved ones. I can admit, I too am guilty of being non-attentive to my family. We are a household of technology, iPads, iPhones, Galaxy Tabs, Galaxy S5, Amazon Kindles, video games; you name it, we got it. If you are in the vehicle with your child or children, this is a perfect time for quality time. Staying off of technology prevents accidents and talking to your child(ren) is nourishing and a continuous reminder of their presence.

3. Have a reminder! The old string on your finger adage is a thing of the past, yet the need to be reminded is even more prominent than the days of old. We have a product called, The BabySitter, which is a distance alarm for small children and those with dementia and autism. The BabySitter looks like a Teddy Bear with a separate keychain alarm. When the distance between the two reach 3 to 10 meters, the keychain beeps to acknowledge lack of close proximity to one another. In addition, it also works in stores and parks with the addition of a built in 90db child locator alarm.

For more information regarding The BabySitter, visit http://www.divasindense.com.

Download “A Parent’s Guide to Playing It Safe With Kids and Cars.“

A Lesson On Crisis Intervention

Last Thursday, March 13, Divas In Defense was invited by representatives of NBC to join a screening of their new show Crisis. Crisis is a brand new television series which officially premiered on NBC last night. According to a summary written by NBC on Imdb.com‘s webpage the show “Centers on an idealistic Secret Service agent who finds himself at the center of an international crisis on his first day on the job. In his search for the truth, he will have to cross moral and legal lines as he navigates the highest levels of power and corruption.”

It was a fabulous experience and our very own Cole Parker and Skye Walton were asked to perform a self-defense demonstration prior to the screening. The duo did a brief, very educational, demonstration that left the audience amazed. Divas In Defense is the perfect place to learn how to approach a crisis situation, so be sure to sign up for one of our many classes designed to suit the beginning student to the most advanced student.

Thank you so much to NBC for inviting us!

Don’t Be Scared, Be Prepared!

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

Countless crimes and attacks we see daily through the media can easily make us lose focus of the most common attackers and abusers, those we know. According to the United States Department of Justice, one- eight attacks on women is someone we DO NOT know. This means the other 87.5% are our fathers, brothers, bosses, co-workers, church members, neighbors and significant others.

Unfortunately, we do not always report our loved ones and those we know to local authorities. The inaccuracy of 87.5% truly being in the upper 90s reminds us of the importance of protecting ourselves and our girls.

One in four teen dating relationships are abusive. One in four college aged young women will experience attempted or completed rape. The fear of our little girls growing up is scary enough, even without the reality of the countless crimes they may have to endure. Don’t Be Scared, Be Prepared!

Click here for more information on registering you and/or a teen for self-defense classes.

4 Tips to Protect Your Children Online

Social media is a major concern for parents everywhere. After news of the students involved in the Steubenville rape last week, parents are outraged and looking for understanding of the incident turned social media event. The students were convicted based on explicit text messages, videos and Facebook posts that were made.

It is important that as a parent, you are taking a stand on control of social media within your households. Here a few quick tips to make sure your children are not engaging in inappropriate online communication:

1. What is Inappropriate?

Do not assume your child understands what is inappropriate social media communication. Take a minute to speak with your child about what they can and cannot engage in online. It is important that you have a discussion about the good, bad and ugly of social media.

2. Get Online.

Technology is changing each and everyday. It is important that you are familiar with the types of social media that your child is engaged in. Create a Facebook page and friend your daughter/son. Take an interest in what technology they are currently using so you are not in the dark.

3. Set Rules.

Set some ground rules for your child. Make sure they understand what your rules are for using social media on cell phones, social media websites and computers. Make sure you have passwords to access their accounts at anytime. (Remember the legal age to have a Facebook account is 13)

4. Educate Your Child.

Sexual assault and topics about sex will not go away if you ignore them. If your children are not learning about these topics from you, they are learning incorrect information from their friends. It is important to have these discussions with your children. Make your children feel comfortable coming to you with issues they have heard about or experienced. Need a little help starting the conversation? Click here to visit the Planned Parenthood website for resources to start the conversation.

Tagged as: children