On Her Own

Personal Safety

Recent Stories

Dating and self-defense with Caleb Giddings

I don’t know about you, but I grew up in the age of stranger danger. If I didn’t meet someone through a trusted source, then they might kidnap, rape, or kill me. And yet, in single woman world, we using dating apps and websites all the time to intentionally meet complete strangers from the internet

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How to be rude [updated July 2023]

We all know the standard safety tip offered to women: don’t be afraid to be rude. If we want to refuse a request, if we want to leave a place, if we object to being touched, then we have the right to say no and we don’t have to be nice about it. While there

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It’s Okay To Be Rude

One of the challenging parts of the MUC – Managing Unknown Contacts – stuff we talked about yesterday is that it can feel really rude. MUC strategies can include brushing by someone with angry-face on and ignoring anything they might have to say, or asking them to stay away from you, or even yelling at

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Managing Unknown Contacts – An Introduction

We haven’t talked about MUC – Managing Unknown Contacts – in a hot minute, and it’s a good time for a review as we venture into summer vacations. Classically, as originated and taught by Craig Douglas of Shivworks, MUC has some specific elements about creating and using a set of simple responses to the approach

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Why guns can be a bad idea for self-defense

The thing about lethal force, whether or not you intend it to be lethal, is that the consequences can be extremely high if we use it in ways that are not legally permissible. Watching the news and social media are not complete educations about what is and isn’t okay in the eyes of the law,

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What to do if you are being followed

Step 0: Are you carrying pepper spray? You should be. If a stranger is an actual issue, OC is very likely enough to solve the most common worst-case scenario problems. Step 1: Relax. Are they really following you or are they also just looking for Diet Coke? You can change your path through the store

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In memory of Milan Loncar

The homicide rate in Philadelphia has been soaring for the last few years, since the start of the pandemic and the aftermath of George Floyd led to 2020 being the most violent year suffered by the city in three decades and the second highest in six. Nearly five hundred people were killed that year, and

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Lessons from an Alabama shooting

The story of Adam Simjee and Mikayla Paulus has been floating around the news recently. As is often the case, there is some disagreement between sources about exactly what happened, but here’s the outline we’ll go with today, based on the initial Clay County Sheriff’s Office news release and early news reports. It was mid-morning

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Step 4: Profit!!

This past weekend, I spent two days with John Hearne of Two Pillars Training. Advertised as separate classes, Saturday was all about examining the characteristics of people who win in violent fights, and how we can learn from them to increase our own odds of success if we face that worst day ourselves. Sunday, we

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