They have the same chance of danger that you do. Women's self defense courses offer mother and child classes or they have independent self defense classes just for children. They will learn to defend themselves from their level of understanding and their physical size. Once your child has taken these classes, reiterate the lessons often to remind them of the techniques they have learned and what they have to look out for. The long hair is easier to grab and use to cause pain and to direct the rest of the woman's body where the assailant wants it to go. What you are doing can also zero you as a target. A woman walking done the street talking in her cell phone and digging through her pocket book is not really paying attention to what is going on around her. If a woman is hurt in an attack, the woman will feel that she is violated and cannot trust herself to be alone anymore. The support of the significant other, boy friend, or husband is really important at this moment. The male in the women's life should over dramatize the event, but start to make the woman realize that it was not her fault and that it is no reason to isolate from the world. Although one may not want to inflict injury, a course in women's self defense can enable one to escape a perilous situation. Some women may not feel that they are excluded access to a women's self-defense class; however this is often not true. Many communities have athletic gymnasiums which offer martial arts classes or even specific women's self defense courses. The attacker will not want to do much else afterward, but get away quickly. During inclement weather a umbrella makes an excellent women's self defense weapon. You must use it the right way. If the attacker is coming at you, point the pointy end of the umbrella at his face and lunge forward with the foot that is on the same side of the umbrella. Women's self defense instructors will teach that when you jab a person in the stomach slightly below the chest bone, the attacker will back away quickly or try to turn his or her body away to get away from the pain. When you apply pressure next to the collar bone it will cause the attacker to move downward away from the pain.