As reported, South Korean women are feeling nervous and buying self defense products at about a 60% – 100% higher rate than normal. This is due to the recent arrest of Kang Ho-soon, who is alleged to have raped and murdered many women. While it is good to see people from other countries taking an interest in self defense, it appears that many such women are taking the wrong approach, and buying products that may actually leave them more vulnerable:
The most favored items were alarms making sounds over 100 decibels, meant to be used in emergency situations and loud enough to alert people blocks away, the [South Korean self defense product] shop said.
The idea that a woman who is facing rape and possibly murder would rely upon a device that makes noise to save herself worries me greatly. I just can’t see a criminal breaking off the attack due to the noise made by some electronic device, or fear that a bystander would come to the aid of the victim. Nor do I think it would be wise to spend precious seconds trying to activate such a device, when that time could instead be spent using a better self defense tool to fend off the criminal. It is also worth noting that even when bystanders hear a victim cry for help, they often don’t come to the victim’s aid, or even call the police.
Self Defense For Women agrees, saying:
When you believe that someone will come to your rescue when you blow a whistle or set off a siren, you are fooling yourself. . . Counting on an alarm to summon aid means that you are depending on someone else to come forth to rescue you. That is, you are betting your life on the hope that someone will hear the alarm, and will respond, and will be capable of stopping the attack. That’s a lot of ‘ifs’ that are out of your control.
As I’ve said before, a gun is the best tool yet invented by humanity for self defense, and that is why I own guns.