Shieldher Inc was started in February 2007 by me, Dana Shafman, with a mission to increase the quality of our lives by pacifying the daily fears we face as women. To get my message out to women, I invented Tupperware-style Taser Parties across the US to educate women about the benefits of personal protection with a Taser. Shieldher Inc has expanded and now has a "stunning" product and service suite with an even broader focus to protect all life, not just the lives of women.
When visiting Lake Hodges in Escondido, CA where 17-year-old Chelsea King was murdered in February 2010, the heart in one’s chest just aches while the body shows physical manifestation of horror as a person contemplates just how something so tragic occurred at such a beautiful, serene place. Shock then turns to rage when realizing that nobody’s safe, nobody’s privileged and everyone’s vulnerable regardless of age, where they reside or their economic classification. After a quick perusal of Scottsdale Unified School District’s website, there is no evidence of child safety anywhere, which prompts one to ask, “Why is there not education for our children in school on how to stay safe and alive?”
In an effort to prevent something similar from happening to the youth in the Scottsdale community, the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) should make child safety education mandatory for every grade level. In an unofficial survey of some parents in Scottsdale, safety education is nearly non-existent in schools other than the dreadful, flawed “Stranger Danger” instruction. Parents are not experts in safety education and most don’t know or practice good safety behavior themselves further clouding the issue; they rely on the schools to educate their children on all pertinent subject matter, including safety.
Always TAKE A FRIEND with you when running, walking, biking, or standing at the bus stop. Make sure you know your bus number and which bus to ride.
Say NO if anyone you don’t know or a person who makes you feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused offers a ride unless I have told you it is OKAY to do so in each instance.
Quickly get away and yell, “THIS PERSON IS NOT MY MOTHER/FATHER/GUARDIAN” if anyone tries to take you somewhere or is following you. If anyone tries to grab you, make a scene and every effort to get away by kicking, screaming, and resisting.
NEVER LEAVE SCHOOL GROUNDS before the regular school day ends. Always check with the office and me before leaving school early.
NEVER take shortcuts or walk through alleys to get to or from school. Remember to call me once you have arrived home.
Whether you live in Scottsdale, Jacksonville or Philadelphia, the odds of a female getting sexually assaulted are still 1 in 6; in fact, a girl within the age range of 18-24 has a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of sexual assault. Therefore, it is not only imperative to have mental self defense tools in your hypothetical self defense tool bag, a woman must also know how to attack the most vulnerable body parts of a attacker. After all, awareness will not help a sleeping woman against the middle of the night home invasion threat. Remember that self defense does not warrant a single solution, it is about having an arsenal of tools and options to utilize.
Many self defense instructors become obsessed with the technique in which to perform self defense maneuvers but in actuality, the key is to remember that it’s the targets on the body that are most important and not which technique you use. The eye is the most vulnerable area on a person’s body and there is a plethora of ways to attack it. The eye can be jabbed, pushed, blinded, dusted and sprayed to name a few. Let’s explore the eye jab.
The most common manner in which to attack an eye is to jab or poke it. To maximize the benefits of jabbing an eye, one should use the 3 middle fingers together. The fingers should be slightly bent to avoid them breaking if the target is missed and the aim should be for either a single eye or the bridge of the nose (you’re likely to hit one eye or the other by aiming for the bridge of the nose). The motion should be swift and undetectable like that of a Gaboon Viper Snake strike. When the eye is jabbed, the optical nerve hits the skull and causes immediate pain, temporarily blinding the attacker.
It is possible that, by utilizing this technique, a person could have permanent damage but it is more likely that the cornea of the attacker’s eye would be scratched without permanent injury. All civilians have the right to engage in violence for the sake of defending one's own life or the lives of others, including the use of deadly force. By understanding basic human anatomy, it is fairly easy to identify vulnerable targets on a body in order to safely escape most any situation.
This morning, the parents of Chelsea King announced that they are backing a proposed California state law to toughen restrictions on sexual predators after their 17-year-old daughter allegedly was kidnapped and killed by a convicted sex offender, John Albert Gardner III. The suspect in the case, John Albert Gardner III, 30, was arrested on suspicion of murder and rape after investigators found several pieces of unspecified evidence. The Kings said if the laws had been smarter and bolder, Chelsea might still be alive.
Although this horrific incident occurred in California, it absolutely pertains to Scottsdale residents in a multitude of ways. First, many Scottsdale residents are not aware of the convicted sex offenders living in Scottsdale; therefore, one could be living next to a resident with a small child and the parents are oblivious. Additionally, many Scottsdale teens attend college and vacation in San Diego where over 2,700 sex offenders reside and most do not know how to protect themselves nor have they taken a self defense class to learn. Lastly, many Scottsdale residents do not know the laws that pertain to sexual offenders until someone inflicts harm on one of their own children or community members.
The time is now to get educated about who is living in our Scottsdale communities and how to protect our children from becoming a victim or worse, a statistic. Scottsdale parents need to teach their children, or find someone qualified to do so, about the dangers lurking in our communities and beyond. Furthermore, all children should have a basic understanding of who to avoid and how to avoid potential dangers. Parents need to stop using the “Stranger Danger” lexicon without delay as it is no longer an appropriate manner in which to safeguard a child. In fact, parents need to immediately adopt a CODE WORD so that their children can identify safe people in their lives given that roughly 73% of assaults were perpetrated by non-strangers. Don’t let Chelsea King be just another statistic, learn from her and educate your children now.
Scottsdale-based Taser International has been under fire for years due to the alleged excessive force use by law enforcement of Taser International’s electronic control devices like the Taser X26. Even though many civilians are aware of the negative exposure as a result of the alleged abuse, they are unaware that Taser has a product geared towards the female civilian market and legal to carry in Scottsdale, the Taser C2.
Yes, the Taser C2 is an expensive self defense weapon at around $350, but the ability to protect oneself with the touch of a button, a laser sight and without having to practice is certainly worth more than $350 to many female Scottsdale residents, especially if she can defend from a safe distance of 15 feet. For some, there is a fear of not being able to defend oneself if faced with an attacker, especially at night in the event of a home invasion, which lead to the question, “Why is this happening to me?” The Taser C2 is extremely easy to use and there is no question as to the effectiveness of the device, just ask Amnesty International.
Many women may question the need to purchase anything if they possess a basic knowledge of self defense, which is a fair argument; however, if a woman is not 100% confident in her ability to protect herself physically against a man twice her size then it is imperative that she look into self defense tools. After all, self defense does not warrant a single solution and one cannot rely on anyone else coming to their aid like law enforcement or a spouse. Consider the situation that a Scottsdale couple found themselves in back in November 2008 when 3 men broke into their North Scottsdale home without warning…they still haven’t been caught!
The bottom line is that most females are conditioned to believe that “it won’t happen to me” and unfortunately if it does, they find themselves unprepared both mentally and physically. In fact, Shieldher has an entire website dedicated to victim stories for that reason. Although Scottsdale is normally a safe place to live, chances are that most Scottsdale residents leave the confines of “safe Scottsdale” routinely and one can never be too safe. By simply carrying a Taser C2, a Scottsdale woman actually decreases the likelihood of being attacked due to increased confidence, even if she never has to use it.
Click on the links here more information on the Taser C2 or contact Shieldher. Be safe!
On any given day in Scottsdale, there is no shortage of residents exhibiting poor self defense behavior like running with headphones or walking through a parking garage, distracted on a cell phone. Given that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, self defense should be as routine as wearing a seat belt in a car and MUST BE practiced every day.
The most common misconception about self defense is that it is predominantly physical in nature. The truth is that self defense is predominantly mental, but it must become second nature to a person to practice it effectively. The number one self defense mental technique is awareness and if a person is aware of their surroundings then they will likely spot danger approaching prior to becoming a victim.
Running with headphones is the single most dangerous behavior that a walker or runner can exhibit because it diminishes the most important of the five senses, hearing. Without the full ability to hear, awareness of a person's surrounding is severely crippled. Not only can headphones prevent a person from detecting a car following closely behind, but it also prevents a prospective victim from hearing noises associated with danger from a distance thus reducing escape time.
By removing distractions while in public places like headphones and cell phones, it forces a person to look around and take in a deep breath of life...call it a self defense benefit. If Scottsdale residents want to practice safe behavior in an effort to reduce the chance of becoming a victim, then awareness is the first self defense criterion that must be adopted immediately and daily. Not only will awareness of one's surroundings help keep the entire community safe, but it will also help to remind everyone to "stop and smell the roses" because all other distractions are removed.
TASER PARTY CREATOR TRANSFORMS VICTIM TO VICTOR WITH FIRE
FREE “Just Yell Fire” Training Offered on Valentine’s Day at Lion’s Den in Exchange for Charitable Diapers
Scottsdale, AZ – Dana Shafman, TASER Party creator and owner of Shieldher Inc, reinvents women's self defense by launching Shieldher self defense training classes in 2010. Shieldher, with the help of Lion’s Den in Scottsdale, will launch the first self defense class this month named “Just Yell Fire” at Lion’s Den’s premiere mixed martial arts facility. Shafman will teach “Just Yell Fire”, which has helped keep more than 1 million girls safe in 44 countries since 2006.
In addition to self defense training classes, Shafman revamped the Shieldher WebStore to include a plethora of new products and services like SPIbelts and Background Checks for dating women. "My main objective has always been to pacify the daily fears we face as women", Shafman explains. "Although the TASER Party was a great way to launch the business, I am relentlessly looking for new products and services to protect women from becoming victims. Being that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 4 college girls will be victims of sexual assault, it is the right time to launch self defense training for all females regardless of age!" Shafman undoubtedly has a passion to protect women.
Dana Shafman refuses to stop there as she has already added 20 Shieldher Regional Managers nationwide from California to Mississippi to Pennsylvania and is seeking an additional 80 plus representatives by year’s end. Shafman is developing firearms training classes specifically geared towards women and children; and she is also putting the finishing touches on her first entrepreneurial memoir detailing her TASER Party journey titled “Stunned By Success”.
This Saturday, February 6th, Lion’s Den and Shieldher will team up to educate the women and children of The ThunderbirdsFamily Village of Homeward Bound on personal safety and self defense techniques to further empower them to flourish. Shafman has made a commitment this year to get more involved in charity and has already donated to Susan G. Komen and American Heart Association as part of her Shieldher Against…Charity Campaign.
In support of Homeward Bound’s Diaper Drive, a FREE “Just Yell Fire” training class will be offered from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, in exchange for a diaper donation at Lion’s Den located at 2954 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Shieldher will offer “Just Yell Fire” self defense training every week at Lion’s Den’s premiere mixed martial arts facility and classes can be located and purchased in person or online at www.Shieldher.com.
About Shieldher
Shieldher Inc was started in February 2007 by Dana Shafman with a mission to pacify the daily fears women face and to increase the overall quality of women’s lives. To get her message out to women, she invented Tupperware-style TASER Parties across the US to educate women about the benefits of personal protection with a TASER C2. Shieldher has expanded and now has a "stunning" product and service suite with an even broader focus to protect all life, not just the lives of women. To learn more about Shieldher, please visit www.Shieldher.com or contact Shieldher at (602) 881-0802.
About Lion’s Den
Lion’s Den Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training center is the only training facility of its kind in Arizona and is one of the Premier MMA training facilities in the Nation. Some of the amenities include Competition Boxing Ring, Cage for Mixed Martial Arts Training, 4000 square feet of striking space and a large Jiu Jitsu and Grappling area. Lion’s Den is proud to offer the best in kids training with their nationally recognized Lion’s Cubs youth programs. Lion’s Den is located at 2954 North Hayden Road in Scottsdale, AZ; for more information call (480) 941-LION or visit www.lionsdenaz.com.
About Just Yell Fire
There is a community out there, girls 11 to 19, who according to the YWCA face a 1 in 4 risk of sexual assault and could be one of the 114,000 attempted non-family abductions each year in the US. Just Yell Fire, a non-profit based in Portland, Oregon with offices in Vancouver, Washington, has taken on this problem and has the sole mission of keeping teenage girls safe from assault, abduction, and even death. They are teaching girls they have the right to fight back and giving them the skills to put a stop to date rape as well as to put predators out of business.
About Homeward Bound
Founded in 1990 by a grassroots committee of community activists, Homeward Bound is a transitional housing program for homeless and domestic violence families with children in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Homeward Bound is recognized as the largest provider of transitional housing in Arizona. Their mission is to assist families achieve economic independence, secure long-term, safe, decent, affordable housing and break multi-generational cycles of homelessness and domestic violence.
The statements made herein are independent statements of Shieldher Inc. The inclusion of any third parties does not represent an endorsement of any Shieldher products or services by any such third parties.
