Your Body, Your Right To Say No and How To Protect It.

Dear Readers, 

It is about to get personal and very real.  I'm going to tell you a story, and it may upset you.  I have put off doing so for far too long, but I believe that the good that can come from this story far outweighs the discomfort I feel telling it. 


This post is for the 70 plus percent of women who have been sexually assaulted, 
please know that you are not alone. 


To the men who have hurt us, may you die a slow and painful death. 

MK

A little over 7 months ago I was raped and physically assaulted, by someone I knew and cared about. During the attack, I repeatedly asked the man to stop, I struggled and I fought back. I made critical mistakes in my self-defense, that could have prevented and stopped the attack- mistakes that I don't want any of you to ever make.              

Immediately following the attack, I went to the hospital and went through the invasive process of reporting it and being examined. That day, I learned that my attacker couldn't be charged until the evidence had been processed in the state crime lab and that this could take months, and months it took. 

When all was said and done, and the evidence had been processed,  the police detective was apologetic as he explained " sometimes we know someone has committed a crime but we don't have enough evidence to get a conviction, so the case has to be dropped".            

I did everything I could to stand up for myself and the system failed me. 
It has failed others and it will continue to do so. 
But this isn't about me or the system. 
This is about self-defense and You. 
This is about protecting what is yours: Your body. 


Shortly after the attack, a close friend said to me (during a discussion about violence) 
"if you aren't prepared to kill, you give up your right to live" fF.
An Ugly Truth. But he's right. Initially, I didn't want to learn how to protect myself because I didn't ever want to have to use violence. I hate violence. It saddens and sickens me, but I hate being a victim more.  
I spent the first couple of months, following the attack scared.  I still go to bed at night scared.  I hear things that freak me out, I have nightmares, and I have a very hard time trusting men- period. But I am working on it. And part of what I'm doing is learning how to defend myself. I am studying combattives and I'm very aware of my physical surroundings, and now despite the uneasiness I feel, I'm telling you my story because I don't want anyone I know, or come in contact with to ever experience these feelings.  

When it comes to self-defense there are many potentially fatal errors we make.  We fail to recognize potential dangers in our environments, we fail to recognize that anyone could  harm us, and during attack we can fail to recognize the severity of the situation.  
IF Someone threatens you, or makes a violent or menacing gesture he has shown that he is prepared to hurt you, and you must be prepared to react accordingly- with violence. 

I am not an expert in self-defense, but in order to regain emotional stability in my life I did some research and studied from an expert. 


Ladies, it is absolutely useless to learn how to punch and kick a male attacker. Nine times out of ten your attacker will outweigh you.  You need to know how to target the parts of his body that will do the most damage the fastest so that you can get away from him/her and save your life! 


Sources that are absolute MUSTS for anyone who wants to protect him/herself include Target Focus Training, and Blauer Tactical Systems.  If you are anywhere near Minneapolis, MN I strongly encourage you to contact Adam Glass for information on his self-defense courses.


Ladies and Gentlemen, Don't just read this and say to yourself, "I should do this".  This isn't something you should do, this is something you must do. 70 plus percent is an atrocious, disgusting number and what's worse is that means that at least 1/5 men have raped and even more will.  


Megan K