personal safety strategies awareness workshop
DESCRIPTION
Personal Safety Strategies Awareness Workshop. Workshop Purpose. To enhance your quality of life, rather than place limitations on you, by providing a range of practical personal safety strategies. Opening Statement. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Workshop Purpose
To enhance your quality of life, rather than
place limitations on you, by providing a range of
practical personal safety strategies.
Opening Statement
There are no all-purpose strategies to preserve
your personal safety in all situations.
As individuals we should recognise our own
abilities, environmental surroundings, and the
perceived motivation of those who may be
threatening our safety, to determine what action
will best preserve our safety.
Personal Violence
Who are more likely to commit an offence? Male or female?
What age group?
Does risk of being a VICITM increase or decrease with age?
Is the offender more likely known or unknown to the victim?
Where is the most likely venue for the offence?
Impact of Fear of Crime
Positive Effects: encourages preventative behaviours
Negative Effects: restricts lifestyle decreases confidence in surroundings encourages victim status reduces natural surveillance
Core Concepts of Personal Safety1. Right to safety2. Keeping violence in perspective3. Commitment4. Confidence5. Body language6. Awareness of surroundings7. Trusting and acting on instinct8. Assertiveness9. Networks10. Developing a personal safety plan
1. Right to Safety
We all have the right to feel safe all of the time.
You are encouraged to be aware of and maintain your right and be committed to your personal safety.
It is also important to respect others’ right to safety.
2. Keep Violence in Perspective
By educating ourselves about the source of our fears we can gain an understanding of the real risks involved and develop strategies to minimise those risks.
Examples include: fear of spiders, snakes, rape/assault, heights.
3. Commitment
Question: How committed are YOU to your own
safety?
Many people are more committed to the safety of their
loved ones than they are to their own safety.
Being committed to your safety is fundamental to
maintaining it.
4. Confidence Reflected in body language, portraying our vulnerability or
strength; Indicated in our ability to handle a threat to personal
safety; Often reflected in our quality of life; Bluffing confidence is effective; Source of power - all successful people have faith in their
own abilities;“If we did all the things we are capable of we would literally astound ourselves.” Thomas Edison
5. Body LanguageStrong, confident = head up, shoulders back, looking people in the eye, walking purposefully, being casually aware of surroundings.
Weak, vulnerable = head drooped, shoulders hunched, not looking people in the eye, walking unsurely, appearing paranoid.
6. Awareness of Surroundings Allows you to avoid potential threat/danger by
taking action before it reaches you/you reach it.
Minimises the possibility of someone attacking/assaulting you by surprise.
By casually being aware of surroundings you appear strong, confident and ‘streetwise’, thus reducing the likelihood of being targeted by an attacker.
7. Trusting and Acting on Instinct
Our bodies sense threat sooner than our conscious mind;
By listening to our instincts we can take action to remove ourselves from the source of threat and dramatically reduce the risk of attack.
By ignoring our instincts we can allow ourselves to be placed into a dangerous situation.
9. Networks
By talking to people we trust and gaining their support, advice etc. We are better equipped to handle and solve our problems
Networks can assist to increase confidence and self esteem
Often people most in need of assistance are isolated
10. Personal Safety Plan Consisting of safety strategies chosen by you
to suit your lifestyle and abilities;
Chosen strategies should become habits, used on a daily basis;
Should not be a list of rules;
Visual imagery is an effective method of preparing ourselves to use chosen strategies.
Core Concepts of Personal Safety1. Right to safety2. Keeping violence in perspective3. Commitment4. Confidence5. Body language6. Awareness of surroundings7. Trusting and acting on instinct8. Assertiveness9. Networks10. Developing a personal safety plan
Dealing with Confrontations
There are no all purpose strategies to preserve our personal safety in all situations
We need to recognise– Our own abilities
– Environmental factors; and
– The perceived motivations of those who may be threatening our safety
In order to determine what action will best preserve our safety.
Do whatever you believe will best preserve your safety at the time.
ACTIONS
Escaping Fighting back Screaming Negotiating with attacker Creating a diversion Whatever the attacker tells you to and Whatever will best preserve your safety
Three Reasons to Scream1. Adrenaline rush: converts fear to anger, enables
defender to think quicker, move faster and multiplies their strength
2. Shock attacker: attacker is not expecting victim to turn to aggressor, and self defence strikes impact more severely on a tense, shocked body
3. To draw attention to the situation: although people may not be around or assist you even if they are, at least the offender is aware others may have heard you
Options to Physical Self Defence yell out to a fictitious person verbal response - negotiate with attacker fake medical condition e.g. STD/AIDS/Hepatitis fake asthma attack/heart attack, epileptic fit, faint, mental illness ask to go to the bathroom to remove tampon/insert diaphragm be revolting - throw up, defecate, urinate wait for the attacker’s attention to be momentarily diverted and
seek escape anything else you can think of to stop the attack or create an
opportunity to escape