Any effective women’s / girls’ self-defense program does not teach aggression. It teaches defense, which occurs when the threat of violence is present and unavoidable. This course teaches that violence prediction and avoidance is always the primary objective for girls. Self-defense is what happens when violence avoidance fails.

When violence is unavoidable, should girls fight back? As Ellen Snortland in her book Beauty Bites Beast: Awakening the Warrior Within Women and Girls (1998) wrote, “Women are often afraid to fight back in real life settings because they are afraid that if they do, they’ll get hurt even worse.” Snortland quoted Sarah Ullman and Raymond Knight in their research article published in The Psychology of Women Quarterly (March, 1993), “The Efficacy of Women’s Resistance Strategies in Rape Situations”:

“Forceful resistance strategies such as fighting, screaming, and fleeing / pushing the offender away appear to be more effective for avoiding rape (or at the very least may not exacerbate sexual abuse) than not resisting, especially in dangerous situations (i.e., indoors, when a weapon is present, etc.). Moreover, there is some evidence, corroborating earlier research (Bart & O’Brien, 1985), that pleading, crying, or reasoning during rape are ineffective in avoiding rape and injury (Ullman & Knight, 1992) and may be harmful in both less dangerous situations and in situations in which the risks for sexual abuse and physical injury are high.”