PLAY IT SAFE

Violent attacks are an issue, which needs to be dealt with, but how
much of a problem are they in Sunderland? Julia Price investigates.

VIOLENT attacks on innocent victims are something we hear about all too often. It may have happened to someone you know, or even worse, you yourself may have been a victim of an assault of some kind. As a defence mechanism we think, it won't happen to me! or I could protect myself! However some students have found themselves innocent victims of attacks and the truth is it could happen to anyone. (Male or female)

There is no way of knowing when someone will strike, or even why? It's just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Although it is not a major problem within Sunderland, it doesn't mean we can rule out violent attacks. They do happen and we should be aware of this.

Like the Hyena in the wild looking for its weakest prey to attack this is similar to the working mind of a criminal. They tend to prey on easy targets, which are why the majority of attacks take place at night in dim lit areas, and often the victim is alone. These factors make it easier for attackers, as there is less likelihood that someone is watching, someone will come to help or even the victim will put up a fight.

One student found themselves in a dangerous situation a few weeks ago, they told degrees north of their experience. "It was a normal night out at the bar, having a few drinks with friends. It came to closing time and I decided to walk home. I didn't think for one minute that anything would happen to me" It is walking around at night when most attacks occur and it wasn't long before the girl realised she was being followed down the road. "My instincts told me there was something wrong, so I did the sensible thing and crossed the road a couple of times. Each time though, he crossed with me."

It was at this point when the girl became scared, being alone, she felt vulnerable and no one else were around to help. She explains, " At that time all I could think of was remaining calm, I didn't want to appear to be scared or upset. I even thought about being nice to him, as if he thought I was a nice person he might not attack me" It was here when things took a change for the worse, The man grabbed the girls arm, in a bid to drag her down one of the alley ways. She recalls "I felt his arm grab me, I screamed as I fell over, at this point I was very scared, I didn't know what was going to happen to me, or what he was going to do." Although at this point the student was scared, she managed to pull her courage together to allow herself to escape from the attacker. "I managed to wiggle out of his grip, this gave me a few seconds to make a run for it. I didn't stop until I reached my front door."

Luckily this story had a happy ending but it could have ended completely different. The student was able to protect herself from the attacker, making herself active rather than the passive victim. How many people could say the same? In dangerous situations its difficult to act quickly and confidently, we should all learn from this readers experience. Although violent attacks are not that common, they do happen and we should be aware of it when walking around at night.

Self-defence is one way of protecting yourself. It is something which both men and women can do together, learning how to handle any situation. In many cases there is an unfair size disadvantage between the attacker and the victim, however self defence gets around this problem by using your strong points to your advantage.

Bryan Crossley teaches classes in the Sunderland area. He runs an eight-week course, which teaches defence and security techniques. The reason why Bryan teaches in this classes is that he feels that all women have the right to feel safe at all times, and the best way of being safe is knowing how to protect themselves. Bryan says: " Learning self defence is essential. My course offers women knowledge and skill that one day may save their lives. It deals with a variety of scenarios such as handbag snatching, dealing with drunks, and protecting yourself from an attacker. These scenarios could happen anywhere either in the street, in the home or in the car." The classes are a great way of maintaining fitness but more importantly by learning the skills it can help raise confidence levels and teach you how to be alert, incase anything did ever happen.

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