Previously the problem of sexual assault was narrowly defined as the rape of an adult woman by a stranger and it was perceived only as a woman’s issue.

Today, sexual assault has a broader definition. It not only includes the rape of adult women but also the sexual victimization of young girls and boys and of adult men. It is estimated that one out of every four girls and one out of every six boys will be the victim of sexual assault before their eighteenth birthday. Statistically, over 80% of these children will be victimized by someone they know and trust – a parent, uncle, brother, family friend, teacher, babysitter, etc.  According to child protective services, over 4,000 children are sexually abused each year in Indiana alone.

A woman’s risk of being raped by someone she knows is at least four times greater than of being raped by a stranger. One out of every four college women has been raped or the victim of an attempted rape by a boyfriend, date or acquaintance. In Indiana one out of every seven women is the victim of rape and over 2,000 rapes occur in the state each year.

As previously mentioned, sexual assault is not just a woman’s issue. It’s estimated that up to 10% percent of all adult rape victims are male. Contrary to popular belief, male rape is not something that only happens in prison. It can happen to any man regardless of size, strength, appearance, sexual orientation, or beliefs.

Sexual assault not only affects the victims, it also affects their family, friends, co-workers, etc. While the immediate physical and mental affects can be devastating for the victim, the long-term consequences can have a devastating and destructive affect for the community as well.

April is nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This is an opportunity to increase the community’s awareness of the problem of sexual violence. It’s also an opportunity to commit ourselves to those actions we can take as individuals and as a community to reduce this epidemic.


What you can do-

Know the facts and challenge your friends when they perpetuate myths and stereotypes about sexual violence.

Confront violent and sexually abusive behavior when you see or hear it.

Empower yourself with the knowledge to stay safe-take a sexual assault awareness and/or self-defense class.

Show your support and educate others about preventing sexual violence.

Share your knowledge with your family and friends.

Confront sexist jokes or humor that objectifies women.


Sexual violence can be reduced and even stopped. It just requires that each of us take an active role in keeping ourselves and our community safe.


Contact Personal Safety Unlimited for more information on our Sexual Assault Awareness programs for both girls and boys or for reality-based self-defense training that just works. Don't let assault happen to you or your loved ones, take a stand now!

In two weeks I will be presenting at the Warsaw Women's Expo in Warsaw / Winona Lake, Indiana. The 45 minute segment is titled- "Protect Yourself from Crime and Assault...in 4 Easy Steps". This will cover the essentials of personal safety as well as provide a demo of basic self-defense skills. There will be many other presenters and vendors as well.

Visit the website for details- http://warsawwomensexpo.com/

Guys, please pass this along to your significant others, family, or friends that might be interested.

Steve Zorn, ICPS
Personal Safety Unlimited
http://www.personalsafetyunlimited.net

Facing a knife wielding attacker can be dangerous and pretty scary, regardless of age, gender, athletic ability, strength, or martial arts / self-defense skill. However, if using proper awareness and avoidance strategies you can reduce your chances of ever having to face such a situation. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't have  a basic understanding of how knife attacks occur or how to possibly protect yourself should such an event happen. As the old saying goes "better to be prepared and not need it..."

There are two primary ways a knife can be used against us.

1) The static "hold-up"- this is when the knife is used to elicit a fear response, to intimidate the intended victim into following commands. This is usually used to threaten, rob, rape, or assault the intended victim without actually having to use the knife. In such cases, the assailant does not necessarily want to kill, they generally want something else. However, this doesn't mean they will not lash out with the knife if they feel it's necessary to prevent resistance or capture.

2) The dynamic assault, aka the "Ambush" or the "Blitz"- This is when the knife is used to severely injure or kill an intended victim, usually without warning. In many cases the assailant will attempt to go unnoticed as he approaches the target, and then will violently attack when he is in range. However, this can also occur from a standard "testing ritual" or "interview" where the assailant approaches the intended victim under the guise of asking for the time, for directions, or maybe a light for his cigarette.

Which type of attack are you likely to face? This depends on various factors. For example if you work in a high risk environment such as a prison or rowdy night club, there is a higher chance you will face the second type of attack, the "Ambush".  However, if you do not work , live or hang out in high risk environments and if you do not make a habit out of making people angry at you, statistically-speaking you will most likely face the first type of attack. That is, IF you are ever forced to face a knife-wielding attacker.

While there are self-defense and martial arts instructors across the net that want us to believe that every knife attack involves the "Ambush", where an assailant comes out of nowhere and attacks viciously without warning, we know this just isn't the case. While these types of attacks do occur, they generally involve high risk occupations, symmetrical match fights that go wrong (like bar fights), situations where a person has made enemies, etc.

Over the years I have read hundreds of cases where knives were involved but few of them resulted in death from the infamous "Ambush" attack. The majority involved the knife being used as a tool to get a desired result, nothing more. Unfortunately, I have yet to find extensive data showing the actual statistics of the percentage of "Hold-Ups" versus the "Ambushes". However, it becomes fairly obvious when reviewing crime stories from around the country. That being said, the UK has done a better job of tracking the various types of crimes involving knives. This is simply because knife crimes are so much higher there due to the lack of firearms. What their research shows is that knives are used more often to threaten, rob, and rape then to cause bodily harm or to kill. You can read the following report for an overview of these statistics- www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn04304.pdf

The point is, while knife attacks are both dangerous and scary, we can reduce our chances of being victimized through the use of awareness and avoidance. If we find ourselves facing a knife-wielding assailant, we must be be prepared both physically and mentally to deal with such a threat. While the chances are good this person only intends to scare us with the knife, we must also be prepared for the worst-case scenario. However, with that being said, we must understand the worst-case scenario is low on the probability scale unless we work or live in high risk areas, or do something stupid to agitate a knife-wielding robber.

Steve Zorn, ICPS
www.personalsafetyunlimited.net

Many years ago I had set up a booth at our local downtown days. I was handing out flyers for an upcoming Kid Escape presentation that was going to be held at a local martial arts school. This was going to be free-of-charge to all children and their parents. As parents would walk by I would hand them a flyer. I recall this one mother walking by with two small children. I handed her a flyer. She paused and looked at it intently, then turned back to me, handed the flyer back and said "my children don't need this". I was caught totally by surprise. How in the world can a mother truly believe that her two children didn't need to know how to keep themselves safe from predators? In reality, it had nothing to do with the children not needing this knowledge, but had everything to do with the mother living in a constant state of denial. It's what I call the "ostrich syndrome". People try to ignore the reality of the world we live in. They think that if they don't acknowledge the crime and violence that exists that it will just somehow go away and they will never be forced to deal with such issues. In other words, if they don't think about it, it will never happen to them, their children, or to anyone they know. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. In fact, those living in denial are more likely to become victims. Why? Because they are not physically or mentally prepared to deal with crime or assault. This is exactly what predators look for when searching out a potential victim. The sad thing is that in this particular case, it's the children that could ultimately suffer because of this denial.

A couple of years after the above situation I was at a local private school. I was talking to a group of teachers and parents about the Kid Escape program. I was explaining how I would present the program, what the kids would be learning, and what was involved. I remember that someone asked how much the program would cost. At the time I was charging a very small fee of $1 per child to present at the schools, just enough to cover the cost of handouts and a little (very little) for my time and that's what I told them. Then I remember a father raising his hand to ask a question. Here was the question..."who is going to pay for this?" Wow! All I could think of is that I was trying to provide life-saving information to his children and he was worried about the cost, a whole $1. In other words his children's safety meant so little to him that he didn't want to pay $1 to possibly save their life. This man probably spent money on himself every week buying frivolous things but $1 was too much to empower his children with knowledge and skills they would have for the rest of their life. Wow! Keeping in mind that this was a private school which costs way more than the average public school, tells us that he wasn't hurting for money.

A number of years ago I had contacted a nearby elementary school asking them to allow me to present the Kid Escape program for their students. They just blew me off. Not more than two weeks later a predator attempted to abduct one of their students as she was leaving the school. The only thing that saved her was the fact that an adult nearby just happened to see what was going on and chased the predator off. If the adult hadn't been there, it would have likely ended in tragedy.

These are just a few examples of the "ostrich syndrome" and the reluctance of parents and educators to seriously consider the safety of their children or children in their care.

If you have the "ostrich syndrome", please take steps to eliminate it now, before it's too late.

Steve Zorn, ICPS
www.personalsafetyunlimited.net

I have been striving to get the Kid Escape abduction prevention program to as many children as possible. I have been contacting schools, churches, and any other organizations that directly work with children. To be honest, I am shocked at the number of organizations that care so little about the safety of the children in their care. To say I have been extremely disappointed is an understatement.

One of the churches I recently contacted made the following statement in response- "the time allotted to us for any special events for kids outside of Sunday services are intended for discipleship opportunities to help further grow kids in their relationship with Christ. We try to stay within those guidelines when providing additional programs through out the year."

Let me be perfectly clear here...I believe that assisting children to have a better relationship with Christ is very important. However, this alone will not prevent these children from becoming victims of abduction or abuse. This alone most certainly will not prepare a child for the pain and violence they may be forced to endure at the hands of a predator. To think otherwise is not only misguided, it's flat out wrong.

Who is ultimately responsible for the safety of all children? Schools? Churches? Parents? Or are the children supposed to just suck it up and take care of themselves? Actually it doesn't seem that anyone really knows or cares. School officials often say that they don't have time to teach safety to children and academics take priority. Church staff usually say something similar to what I quoted above. Parents? Well there are a couple of issues there. In most cases parents lack the knowledge or experience to properly educate their children on how to stay safe, especially from abduction and abuse. Also, considering that due to many parents working full-time jobs, the children actually see their school teachers and church educators more than their parents.

The reality is that ultimately ALL adults are responsible for the safety of children, especially if they regularly have children in their care (school educators, church educators, youth group leaders, childcare providers, etc). While children can learn simple skills to keep themselves safe as a last-ditch option, it's the adults that are responsible for making sure the children receive this education. If you oversee or provide care to children and you don't take steps to directly keep them safe or to empower them with the knowledge to keep themselves safe...you are part of the problem rather than the solution. As long as there are adults out there that feel safety should take a back seat to some curriculum or overall objective, there will always be child victims. However, it doesn't have to be that way.

A portion of my life has revolved around providing safety education to children with hopes that those I reach will never be the victim of abduction or abuse. However, I am only one person and I can't do it alone. I need help from those that work with children and those that can reinforce the message that I share. Without the support of educators, church leaders, and parents...children will always be vulnerable. Please open your eyes to this fact!

I use the term "disarms" very loosely because it gives people a general idea of what we are trying to accomplish, an attempt to prevent the attacker from shooting us. However, I do not teach disarms in the traditional sense, stripping the weapon from the attacker's grip while they stand there looking on in amazement. This is great for that WOW factor and getting people interested in self-defense, and it works great in a controlled training environment. However, these fancy techniques don't always work as well when the attacker intends on killing you and has a convulsive death grip on the weapon. There is an easy litmus test to verify this...use training firearms that shoot some kind of projectile such as airsoft, paint rounds, or even rubber bands. Set up the scenarios so that the attacker is acting and moving like a real attacker, no standing around with the gun just hanging out there waiting for the disarm. Then tell the attacker that he makes the decision whether or not he wants to shoot the victim and tell him that if he sees any aggressive movement toward the gun that he is to shoot.

Can you guess what you will find? The defender will be shot more often than not. Even if it's only 50% of the time, this is too high of a probability for the techniques to be applicable for surviving a gun attack.

What about the knife? Same thing applies. While many martial arts instructors will show these cool disarms where the knife is stripped from the attacker's grip, even while sparring, I wouldn't bet my life on them during a real attack. Why not? Because real attackers move and act differently than fellow martial artists. They generally don't comply like a good training partner and what often works in training doesn't always work in real life.

What's the real problem with the "disarm" strategy? Well, to be blunt, this causes the intended victim to be weapon-fixated. In other words, they focus on the weapon that the attacker is holding rather than doing what is necessary to slow or stop the attacker that is holding the weapon. In short, we need to focus on interrupting the central nervous system (aka the brain) because this is the most efficient route to disarming the attacker. The longer we focus on or struggle to take the weapon away, that's precious time we are wasting and this increases the likelihood we will be severely injured or killed.

While traditional disarms have been known to work in some situations, there are better and more easily learned options and tactics that have been shown to work more frequently and with less risk.

So, don't get caught up in the weapon "disarm" illusion, especially if your focus is on the ability to survive lethal force situations.