Voice - Introduction

Using the Voice for Self Defense

In the following exercises the students train to use the voice for self defense. If a girl or a woman is harassed or attacked and there is a chance that someone is listening, getting loud is a very good way to protect themselves. There are different ways to do this:

Talking:	The concerned girl or woman can tell the offender to stop the offending behavior, talking with a loud and clear voice.
Shouting:	She can shout at him.
Help! - Fire!	She can call for help. Yet sometimes people don´t react to this. So in certain situations it may be useful to shout something that attracts more attention, for example "Fire!". This is realized in the exercise "Up to the Fifth Floor".
Managing the Rescue:	if there is somebody nearby, the attacked person should talk to them directly asking for help. People often tend to ignore violent situations, because they are frightened to get involved or just don't know what to do. So better than to shout "Help" is: "Hallo you, this man is attacking me! Please help me!". Even more effective is: "Hallo you, this man is attacking me! Please phone the police!". Here the third person gets the information that there is a possibility to act without having to get involved into the fight. In many cases the attacker will stop the attack as soon as they hear that the police is going to be called.
Screaming:	Screaming loudly is an option, too. It is true that talking or shouting with a a deep voice evokes generally more respect than high-pitched tunes. But a deafening screaming will confuse an offender, too, and young girls are often very good in screaming with a high voice.

The effect of being loud

The shouting or screaming will loosen the tension of the defender and will set blocked energy free. It confuses the offender. It attracts attention. Even if nobody reacts finally, the attacker yet must fear that somebody comes to aid.

Using a Pocket Alarm

If a girl or a woman have problems to get loud, or if they think not to be able to use the voice at all while being attacked, a pocket alarm may be useful. While buying, it is good to try out different different types and then to buy a really loud one. This is a very good exercise for mental self defense, too :).

Role-Plays

A good possibility to train the voice are role-plays: You give a situation, where one or more girls are harassed or attacked and have to defend themselves. The students play this situation, one student taking the role of the attacked, one or more taking the role of the attacker. This way the students can train all features of self defense: body-language, voice and techniques.

Training with Fun

The exercises in this chapter have the purpose to train the voice in a context that is less confrontative than a role-play: I have made the experience that it is very distressing especially for younger students to work in confronting situations for a longer time. The result is usually that after a while the attention shifts. So I used to mix up the realistic role-plays with playful exercises like Pirates! for example.