Fearless: The Complete Personal Safety Guide for Women

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation in Toronto.

“Physical resistance should be used when you have reasonable grounds
to believe that you are about to be injured. If you believe that by
resisting you have a good chance to avoid sexual assault and other grave
injuries, you may choose to fight back.” So states Paul Henry
Danylewich, the director of White Tiger Street Defense, a group that
specializes in safety issues for women.

The first part of his guide offers an excellent overview of awareness
strategies to help women reduce the risk of physical or sexual assault.
Although it suffers from a lack of illustrations, the text is chock-full
of thoughtful, practical suggestions for safety in the home, workplace,
car, public places, and even in relationships.

The second part of the guide outlines methods for resisting attacks.
The first few pages of this section focus on nonphysical strategies; the
rest is devoted to describing with words and action photos various
methods of self-defence.

Fearless is not a substitute for a good women’s self-defence class
(Danylewich comes to this conclusion himself, but doesn’t share it
with his readers until page 111), and it is difficult to imagine
learning self-defence from a book, even one as matter-of-fact and
distilled as this one. Nevertheless, the manual contains valuable—and
empowering—information, particularly about awareness and prevention.