Women's Security: Course Overview

Blocks

01 - Introduction to Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is the foundation of all personal safety and security. It’s pretty hard to assess and make a decision about a situation if you are not even aware the situation is unfolding right?

In this module we will help you to better understand situational awareness, its benefits, how situational awareness is so closely linked to our intuition and how this impacts our split-second decision making. We will also look at a very important tool known as the ‘Crime Triangle’ and how this can be utilised to prevent being targeted in the first place.

02 - Practicing Situational Awareness

Building on from Module 1, we will explore how you can elevate your Situational Awareness through highlighting our innate understanding of universally accepted conventional behaviour. Therefore, we can better identify the anomalies that could indicate potential threats to our safety.

Later in the module, we will look into the very specific part of Situational Awareness that encompasses reading Body Language. We will explain how to read Body Language so you can improve your personal security, including detecting the signs of a person being angry and aggressive, as well as indicators of an attack. By empowering you through knowledge, we are helping you develop your own, innate, Situational Awareness.

03 - Managing Fear

Contrary to popular belief, fear is a very important and useful emotion for our safety. It alerts us to the presence of danger and is a critical tool for survival.

In this module we will discuss the physiology and psychology of fear and why it is such a powerful emotion. We will give you tools that will help you take charge of your physical and emotional states, so that you can better protect yourself or your family in a dangerous or violent situation.

04 - Home Security

What is the safety and security of you and your family worth? Can you even begin to put a monetary value on something as precious as that? Of course not.

This module is designed to help you identify vulnerabilities, threats, and risks in your home security and to propose simple, and affordable measures you can take to improve it. We will explain in detail the burglar’s Modus Operandi and introduce the ‘Four Ds’ of Residential Security.

05 - Walking in Public

Whether you are safe or not when walking in public is a matter of choice. Obviously, nobody chooses to become a victim of crime or violence, but some people fail to pay attention to their surroundings, read the “signs” and react appropriately.

In this module we will help you to better understand the role of body language in victim selection, how to make yourself unattractive to criminals and explain what to do if you are being followed, using ATMs or using an elevator.

06 - Shopping and dining

Many of us spend a major part of our lives these days moving around in public. Shopping for clothes, dinning at our favourite restaurants and meeting friends for a drink at the local bar.

This module will focus on how you can be safer when you go out to enjoy yourself, whether that be for a bit of shopping, for a good meal, or to enjoy a drink. We will specifically discuss safe use of our cell phone in public, we will delve deeper into the use of ATMs, look at specific safety measures when out shopping and recognize the signs of being drugged.

07 - Online Safety

Cyberspace is full of free love, serious hate, big promises, easy money, scams and lies. Deceiving people online is now almost commonplace. There is an active ecosystem of criminals targeting not only organizations and companies, but also us as individuals, even when our first instinct is to think ‘Why would I be under attack?

This module will develop your understanding of how to protect yourself online by looking at the techniques used by cyber criminals, explaining the basics of malware, viruses and other dangerous downloads. After completing this module, you will be better equipped to challenge what you see online.

08 - Driving and using Public Transportation

Driving a vehicle or getting from A to B by using trains, buses or a taxi has its own unique safety concerns. But with a little knowledge and understanding you can dramatically increase your personal safety.

This module will look at how best to stay safe when moving around in a vehicle. We will start by going through how to be aware of your surroundings when driving a vehicle, then look at safety when you are parking the car away from home and how to stay safe while using trains, buses, and taxis.

09 - Stalking

Stalking is an unusual crime as it’s determined by the way the target perceives another person's actions, rather than by those actions themselves. It can happen anywhere and anytime and may begin with something simple like a predatory individual seeing you in the street and following your every move.

In this module we will identify what constitutes stalking, what motivates a stalker and what a stalker may do in order to get your attention. We will also look at the different types of stalkers and give you concrete tools to put a stop to any type of stalking.

10 - Understanding the Sexual Predator

Sexual assault runs in a continuum from psychological and verbal abuse all the way through to rape and murder.

We are going to build your awareness and understanding of the characteristics of all types of predatory individuals, the processes they utilize and the specific grooming behaviour they use in order to get access to potential victims.

11- Undercover Predator

Acquaintance sexual assaults which are typically the most common form of sexual assault, can be committed by an existing partner with whom you refuse sex, a friend or family member, a stranger who you have just met at a party or bar, a person you know that you have agreed to meet socially or a co-worker/colleague from your place of work.

In this module we will discuss measures to stay safe while socializing, look at the risks of the global phenomenon of dating apps, the specific grooming behaviour these types of predators use and introduce you to the very powerful ‘3-part statement’.

12- Managing Domestic Violence

Domestic violence can take many forms, including verbal abuse, physical force, and sexual compulsion. The dynamics of every couple's relationship are unique; domestic violence is frequently the result of one partner exerting dominance over the other to intimidate, hurt, manipulate or control in some way.

In this module we will explain the characteristics of domestic violence and the cycle of abuse, explain barriers that hinder most women from leaving and present common resources available to help victims.