Self-Defense against Rape

[Bushido-Ruach]

I agree with ya'll, and having been in law enforcement for 18 years I can tell you that in California anyway, the use of deadly force by the victim (or would-be victim) is totally within the law. Rape is a crime that can mentally scar a woman for the rest of her life...she may as well have been killed after the attack, because she will most likely be the walking dead for years - if not for the rest of her life.

When I teach females rape defense, I skip all the "little" techniques about how to escape without causing the attacker any harm. Heck-no!!! I am teaching them techniques that are not only going to hurt like hell, I am teaching them how to take the evil, wicked fiend out for good. Someone who does that isn't concerned for the person they are attacking at all, they have no respect for their lives or what they are doing to them as well as the long-lasting affects of what they are doing. They are only interested in one thing, erregardless of who they hurt or how deep that hurt runs. To me, they deserve to die...and if the victim doesn't take him out, unfortunately (here in California anyways) the state will only lock him away for four to five years and then put the stinking fiend back out on the street.

In the case of rape, defend yourself to the death, and hopefully it will be his death. I know that I sound harsh, but I've known women that have been raped, and it is a deep, mental, physical and spiritual wound that usually they never recover from.

On topics like this I want to shout the Marine Corps war motto again...."Kill'em all and let God sort 'em out"....but that doesn't sound very nice, and I don't want ya'll to think that I'm not nice

Blessings!!!

[dragonwarrior_keltyr]

I agree with ya'll, and having been in law enforcement for 18 years I can tell you that in California anyway, the use of deadly force by the victim (or would-be victim) is totally within the law. Rape is a crime that can mentally scar a woman for the rest of her life...she may as well have been killed after the attack, because she will most likely be the walking dead for years - if not for the rest of her life.

When I teach females rape defense, I skip all the "little" techniques about how to escape without causing the attacker any harm. Heck-no!!! I am teaching them techniques that are not only going to hurt like hell, I am teaching them how to take the evil, wicked fiend out for good. Someone who does that isn't concerned for the person they are attacking at all, they have no respect for their lives or what they are doing to them as well as the long-lasting affects of what they are doing. They are only interested in one thing, erregardless of who they hurt or how deep that hurt runs. To me, they deserve to die...and if the victim doesn't take him out, unfortunately (here in California anyways) the state will only lock him away for four to five years and then put the stinking fiend back out on the street.

In the case of rape, defend yourself to the death, and hopefully it will be his death. I know that I sound harsh, but I've known women that have been raped, and it is a deep, mental, physical and spiritual wound that usually they never recover from.

On topics like this I want to shout the Marine Corps war motto again...."Kill'em all and let God sort 'em out"....but that doesn't sound very nice, and I don't want ya'll to think that I'm not nice

Blessings!!!

As I've mentioned in another thread about rape, being a victim myself I endorce 100% the use of lethal force by rape victims. I did not fight to the death in my case and that is one of my regrets. I know I would feel little or at least less remorse about killing my attacker than about leaving my life in his hands. I am lucky in that I have been able to move past it fairly well, but there are many scars that linger. But, if I could go back and change anything about the experience I would have fought back and killed him. I likely could have prevented the actual rape. By fighting to the death you eliminate the thoughts of "if only I had fought back" etc. You know that you did everything in your power to resist.

[Ozpunker]

I am far from an expert in this field but I'd think it's be best to use as much force as possible as soon as possible. Instead of overpowering, disabling or killing an attacker make them think that it isn't going to be worth the hassle or risk to go through with the assault.

A few months ago I was at a friend's house and he was playing with his 3 year old daughter. He was playfully pinching her chasing her around the house. He pinched her on the bottom and she didn't like it, she turned around and said "My body, don't touch". My friend was very proud of her because that was exactly what they had taught her to say if she didn't like how someone touched her. I like this approach, If a sick person (If they even qualify as people) was to try to touch her in an inappropriate way and they were met with the attitude of "DON'T TOUCH", there would be a high chance that they could see themselves getting busted and think that it's not worth the risk.

Although different cases, I believe that the same principles can be applied. If a man sees the opportunity to rape someone and is met with great resistance from the start he might think twice.

Obviously this cannot work in every case but I sure think it could save a few people.

[Bushido-Ruach]

Dragonwarrior, I sympethize with you as much as a man can (I know that can NEVER be 100%), and I am sorry that you have had to endure such a thing...I am also happy that you have bounced back, though I can only imagine the things you have gone through since.

I hope that this doesn't sound wrong in any way, especially having never met you, but I care and am saddened by your ordeal. I hope that in some small way...that helps.

[JusticeZero]

Yes, it would certainly be traumatizing to murder in self defense, but if the alternative is the victim dying, (and if I was the victim), I'd rather sign up for therapy sessions to get over it rather than succumb and only "hope" that the attacker lets me live after the rape attack.

First, a rape attempt is deadly force; communicable diseases can be lethal. Second, it seems foolhardy to relinquish one's contol of the situation in hopes that a person who already has decided to commit a massive assault on oneself will for reasons not explained might decide to be more merciful. I always tell my students that if the criminal ties to get you to go elsewhere with them, regardless of any other circumstances, they should treat it the same as a clear statement of intent to commit murder. The exact same principle applies here. They will try to do what they planned to do, and being agreeable and not fighting will not help bargain a better outcome.

Third, it is hoped that one was developing their awareness and such to the degree that one seems like a much less inviting target.

[white owl]

If I was being sexually assaulted by someone ( I pray that it never happens), I would do everything possible to get away from the situation. Im fighting for my life here. If it means that in the process of my self defense he dies, then so be it. Just the thought of something like this happening makes my stomach ache. It is why I train so hard, so I can save my life someday.

I'm quoting this because I feel the same way. I would be fighting for my life and if means he dies well so be it. that is why I train so hard to be able to if need be to safe myself in any situation.

[the beast]

I believe that the use of deadly force would definitely be justified in this situation. It's better to tried by 12 than carried by 6 .

[bushido_man96]

I believe that the use of deadly force would definitely be justified in this situation. It's better to tried by 12 than carried by 6 .

In this case, I don't think that a defendant would have too much to fear.

[tonydee]

I'm curious as to the forums feelings regarding Self-defense against rape. I think the "Internal" area is the best place to pose my question because I'm asking for a philosophical point of view. In your opinion, is the victim of a sexual assault justified in using lethal force to try to stop the commission of the crime? Some people feel that rape attempts require maximum power of technique and physical force, while others believe that you should only use 10% more force than your attacker is using and let that person escalate. Please if someone could speak to the legalities of these types of scenarios I think that would greatly enhance the discussion. I believe this is an area that should be brought up periodically so that people can decide ahead of time how violently they would fight to repel an attack. If you murdered a potential rapist, wouldn't that in itself be traumatizing for the average person?

There can be a few stages/levels:

- any prior contact with person

- any interaction while it's still unclear whether the person is friendly or not

- any interaction while it's clear the person is unfriendly, but unclear whether they're violent

- any interaction while they're clearly violent, but it's unclear that they may extend to serious assault or rape

- once it's clearly a life or death situation.

As martial artists, it's good to consider each level of situation, and educate yourself (or your students) about being observant & aware, warning signs, behaviours that could increase the risk of ending up in these situations, as well as actions - verbal, psychological, physical - that might escalate or deescalate the situation.

As per any potentially violent encounter, any pre-violence interaction is itself an enormously complicated "art" form in itself, and someone who understands psychology and thinks creatively can sometimes turn a situation around just as effectively as a good kick or chop. Of course, there are times when an attacker has already decided everything and it's virtually impossible to change the course of things, but surprising often they're more malleable than they'd ever imagine, when something unexpected comes up.

For example, a lady walking through a park at night realised three young men were converging on her. She modified her behaviour as if mentally ill, talking to herself, twitching a bit as she moved, walking a little funny... subtly enough that they didn't question whether she'd been like that before they approached. Coming in from different directions, they didn't have the chance to discuss it amongst themselves and decide whether to proceed, so simply stopped and watched her move off.

Another example: a friend walking home in a light rain was stopped by a couple guys and "asked" for change. He said "if I had any money I'd have got a taxi instead of walking in this rain". Just enough doubt for them to wonder if it was worth attacking him, and which one of them would make the decision, which gave him time to move past them.

I'm not saying a premeditated rape is this simple to deflect - the maniacs who do things like that are probably more psyched up about it and harder to distract. If it's a stranger, you have little background information to go on when constructing a diversion, and they may be more confident of being untraceable, but then they know less about you too. When the rapist is a family member or social contact, it's more complicated too - but there may be other forms of verbal threat or leverage that can be applied. Something as simple as a preemptive "I was telling X that there was something wrong with the way you acted around me" might make them worry about X connecting them to the crime, and divert them from it.

Once it's seems clear that the person is a rapist, then given the typical size and strength difference between the sexes, and the consequence that even a single strike, hold, or lost opportunitity could tip the balance permanently against her, it's simply too risky for a lady to extend any consideration to the assailant. So, not only should she fight without concern for him or waiting to escalate, but she should consider a pre-emptive action if she gets the chance and her instincts are that he is planning an attack.

If you don't fight then that's statistically a worse choice, but understandable too... nobody else has been in that exact situation and nobody - including yourself - should judge you for a decision taken under such immense pressures. If you do fight, definitely go for the most effective techniques you can, but also consider starting with some damage that's very hard to disguise. Rake your fingernails across his face, so anyone who sees him for weeks afterwards will have some idea what might have happened, and he'll immediately know the chances of getting away with a rape are dramatically reduced. With luck, he may decide to leave it at assault and leave.

But most of the above (including prior responses) presupposes it's evident that someone is intending rape. That period where it may be unclear, particularly in a dating situation, is a gray area. It terrible for a lady to hold back and lose the opportunity to fight effectively, but also bad for a guy to be seriously injured or killed due to a misunderstanding. Good reason for a lady not to drink too much when dating, so her judgement is clear and her fighting skills undiminished.

I'd be very gratified to see a systematic exploration of the statistical success of different responses to [would be] rapists, but I haven't seen a lot of hard factual information in the past. Some of the above is offered more as a basis for exploration rather than any manner of firm recommendation.

Wishing for a world where this isn't needed,

Tony

[sensei8]

In your opinion, is the victim of a sexual assault justified in using lethal force to try to stop the commission of the crime?

Absolutely!

That's all of the philosophy I have for that! Anything else would be blah, blah, and more blah!