Your Weapon Within: How to Lower the Risk of Sexual Assault

Your Weapon Within: How to Lower the Risk of Sexual Assault is a compilation of safety and prevention tips that stress awareness and the need to learn how to identify potentially dangerous situations. Mr. Nelson also suggests some non- traditional weapons, such as pencils, hot water, and soil, that can be used to help facilitate an escape during a physical confrontation. Also discussed in this guide is how traditional gender roles, sexism, and cultural conditioning can lead to sexual violence against women. Other topics include: attacker profile, victim profile, date and acquaintance rape.

William Gibbs Nelson has spoken to thousands of people across the country on the issues of sexual assault prevention and self defense. Nelson is currently chairman of the board and a volunteer advocate at the Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center and a volunteer for Woman House, a battered women's shelter in Central Minnesota. A Fifth-Degree Black Belt Master Instructor in the art of Soo Bahk Do Karate, Nelson currently owns and operates a martial arts studio. He earned his B.A. degree in psychology, with a minor in criminal justice from St. Cloud State University. Nelson has been a private investigator for the past fifteen years and is a former police officer. His on-going interest in the subject of sexual assault prevention prompted this publication.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: What is Sexual Assault? Your Weapon Within The Danger of Giving Advice Attacker Profile Victim Profile Stranger Assault Date or Acquaintance Rape Lowering the Risk Through Awareness Danger Zone (Fighting Back) Summary Appendix