Items tagged Los Angeles

Signs That You’re In An Abusive Relationship

Could you be in an abusive relationship and not know it? According to the Huffington Post, nearly 60 percent of all young women have experienced abuse. Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. This is especially true when the abuse is psychological, rather than physical. Noticing and acknowledging the signs of an abusive relationship is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love. If you recognize yourself or someone you know in the following warning signs and descriptions of abuse, reach out. There is help available.

The Divas In Defense Team wanted to take time out of our jolly – jolly holiday ask these questions:

Do you feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
Does your partner humiliate or yell at you?
Avoid certain topics out of fear of angering your partner?
Criticize you and put you down?
Feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
Treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
Believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
Ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
Wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
Blame you for their own abusive behavior?
Feel emotionally numb or helpless?
See you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?

Does your partner:
Have a bad and unpredictable temper?
Does your partner act excessively jealous and possessive?
Hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you?
Control where you go or what you do?
Threaten to take your children away or harm them?
Keep you from seeing your friends or family?
Threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
Limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
Force you to have sex?
Limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
Destroy your belongings?
Constantly check up on you?

Women don’t have to live in fear:
National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233

Male victims of abuse can call:
Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men & Women at 888-743-5754

For More Information:
Helpguide.org

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.

Fire(harmless) Training

I recently went to the shooting range for the first time. While I’ve always been somewhat hesitant about firearms I must say it was an amazing experience. The feeling of pulling the trigger and hearing that subsequent “pop” is exhilerating. With the proper firearm training, a woman can protect herself in an instant. The news is always relaying a story about domestic violence against women. The statistics are astounding, and only seem to get worse and worse by the year. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.” That’s a 25 percent chance that you or someone you know will fall victim to the anger of a trusted person. Knowing this it’s important to not only learn basic self-defense techniques, but also educate yourself on the use of a gun. Remember that we offer firearms training at Divas In Defense with our Fire(Harmless) Gun Training course. Be sure to contact us and sign up today!

Women Rule The World

This year has gone by crazy-fast. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we welcomed the year 2014, yet it’s already halfway over? Quite a few newsworthy events happened recently, putting the spotlight on women and female empowerment. First, on May 23, our country was shocked by the actions of a young man, who will remain unnamed. The gunman opened fire in the Delta Delta Delta sorority house at University of California, Santa Barbara killing two innocent women. After writing a lengthy manifesto and posting misogynistic rants on his YouTube channel, he made it clear that the rejection he faced from women over the years angered him. This man targeted women simply because they were women.

In light of the shooting there’s much controversy surrounding the winner of this year’s Miss U.S.A pageant. Miss Nevada, Nia Sanchez, was asked why college campuses are so eager to dismiss reports of sexual assaults that occur under their watchful eye. In response, Sanchez stated that women should learn to defend themselves. Reasonable response, right? Many people are attacking her response, however, because it is believed that we shouldn’t blame women for being assaulted, but rather make harsher laws for the perpetrators. While both sides have excellent points, females of all ages should certainly take the initiative to protect themselves first. There are lots of things women and girls can do to educate themselves on self-defense. While Nia Sanchez is a 4th degree Black Belt, simply learning the basics is a huge step in the right directions.Taking a self-defense class or purchasing a can of pepper spray is a great first step! After all, women are very, very close to ruling the world.

Tagged as: Los Angeles