'Damsel in Defense' offers self-defense tools to help women protect themselves

(FOX 11) - It's the type of party more and more women across the country are going to: a party where women can learn about the tools and strategies they need to protect themselves, before they become crime victims.

Marta Fox is one of the many women seeking out how to be safer. She's been a target before, kidnapped while on vacation and stalked on the streets of San Francisco.

"I don't have my Navy Seal husband with me at all times," said Fox.

That's why she's buying potentially lifesaving weapons at gatherings that look almost like Tupperware parties.

Mia Redd is a representative for Damsel in Defense, one of the companies behind selling tools to be safer.

Like a traveling salesman, she goes to homes and workplaces hosting these "empower hours" as she calls them, teaching groups about safety products and giving them the option to buy them.

Tools like stun guns, pepper spray, and small martial arts tools.

To drive home the life-saving aspect, Mia also shows a video of a woman using a stun gun on an intruder.

Tracy Vidal, the host of the party, says she already has many self protection tools. She's never had to use them but she's buying more.

"It helps you feel empowered. So that if something were to happen, you know you are taken care of. You don't have to rely on muscle strength. Or if you remember something from tae kwon do as a child. You don't have to remember that," said Vidal.

All you have to remember is how to use the tools. Mia goes over that too.

So just "why" has using these tools become so important? Statistics show 20 percent of all women will be attacked in their lifetime.

But it's important to note that Mia and other experts also say fighting back isn't always the best option.

Krav Maga expert Roy Elghanayan teaches self-defense.

We found him teaching students how to turn a gun around on an attacker. But he admits fighting is a last resort.

"If you feel like your life is in danger and you fear for your life, that's when you should use any precaution to neutralize that threat," says Elghanayan.

He believes practicing various scenarios can build intuition on when to fight back.

Which brings us back to Mia, and why she feels educating women about self defense options is most important.

Many of the women walk out with new purchases, skills -- but also, a new sense of confidence.

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