Domestic violence has been around forever-maybe in different forms or called by different names. A man beating up on his partner is as old as the hills. One of the reasons that I got into this business was because two of my daughters at one point in their lives were victims of domestic violence. I saw the self-defense products industry as a way to help spread the word about the evils of domestic violence and educate people on ways to help protect themselves.
One of the very first articles that we wrote nearly 10 years ago was called “America’s Best Kept Secret.” In that article we talked about how it can happen to anybody, young or old, rich or poor. It knows no boundaries. We mentioned some of the social problems caused by domestic violence that you may not think about like workplace absenteeism, lower productivity and higher medical benefits. The cost to corporate America in lost productivity is astounding.
It is the largest cause of injury to middle-aged women with nearly one out of every three reporting some form of physical or sexual abuse in their lives, most often committed by a family member.
In that article we also discussed the double standard that exists in society for punishing domestic violence offenders. Not too long ago law enforcement officers hardly ever arrested someone unless the offense was egregious. We also discussed the support systems for women that were sorely lacking. Even compared to animal shelters, shelters for battered women were minuscule in number.
That was nearly 10 years ago. How about now? What’s going on now? We have tried to keep up with this topic over the years and monitor what is current. The crime is still as common as ever, but I have to say it appears that society’s view and law enforcement’s view of the crime is shifting with more emphasis being placed on arresting and punishing offenders. That’s a very good thing.
After all, domestic violence is assault at the minimum and possibly aggravated assault, which is against the law in every state. It usually boils down to whether the victim wants to file charges. And for them it is a difficult decision to make because there are possibly repercussions that could make things worse.
We have always recommended that women who are in a domestic violence situation learn how to protect themselves by taking a basic self-defense course and arming themselves with some self-defense products.
In a nutshell domestic violence will probably always exist but how society handles it can have some diminishing effect on the frequency.
Keychain Pepper Sprays are one of the most effective defenses against any kind of assault. We have 80 to choose from. One of them will be perfect for your defense.
The author is a lifetime martial artist and assault survivor, teaches predator defense & rape prevention techniques in her new DVD called Women’s Street Combat.
The Home Security Superstore is one of the oldest and largest independent distributors of high quality home security, surveillance, spy, self-defense, survival and safety products. We carry a wide range of self-defense products including tasers, stun guns, pepper sprays and other nonlethal weapons that can save your life in the event of an attack.