Safety Measures for Women During Survival Situations
In a crisis, whether a war between nations or simply chaos, women are regularly targeted for assault. This is due to their perceived vulnerability in the eyes of men.
Invasions of private homes do not only occur in disaster situations. They occur regularly throughout the nation; if your home is targeted, it may be a very frightening experience.
In some cases, a basic home security setup can prevent individuals from attempting to burglarize your house. However, this may not always suffice. It’s crucial to have security measures in place that will discourage anyone from kicking in your doors.
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When it comes to physical self-defense, women have a clear disadvantage. It is essential, therefore, for women to have alternative methods to protect themselves and their families.
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It’s always important to start by enhancing the security of your property, as this will prevent any potential invaders from harming you or the valuable resources you’ve worked hard to acquire.
Non-lethal self-defense techniques are available. Nevertheless, specific methods, such as a stun gun, may necessitate you to approach your assailant closer than you would like.
Several types of locks and other security measures can be employed to enhance the security of all access points, such as windows and doors. Additionally, having a safe room in your home that can be locked from within can serve as a shelter during any invasion.
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You can invest in windows that are more resistant to breaking and doors that are harder to kick in. Additionally, a surveillance system lets you see who enters your property, what they’re doing, and where.
Regrettably, there are instances when you cannot remain at home during these events. You may need to protect yourself during a survival scenario when you’re away from home, traveling to another location.
It’s crucial to have safety mechanisms in place, not just in your home but also in your car. In the event of a car breakdown, it is crucial to remain inside the vehicle until a trusted individual arrives to assist you unless you can handle any basic repairs.
Read – 10 Handyman Skills You’ll Need During the Collapse
After considering the safety of your home, you must also contemplate what measures you can take if someone breaches your door and becomes a threat to your safety. There are various preferences when it comes to personal defense devices.
A cool thing to help in the dark is a Personal Identification Marker Light, Tactical Helmet Light, Waterproof Survival Safety Flashing Light, or Portable Survival Signal Light. It reminds me of the light I put on my big dog when she goes out when it’s dark.
You may also consider purchasing items such as pepper spray. Although this can provide you with a temporary escape, it may not provide a lasting resolution if someone regularly targets you.
In addition to having a regular pen, you may want to consider carrying a tactical pen. It appears to be an ordinary writing instrument, but it can also serve as a defensive tool in the event of an emergency. I keep one in my purse and one in the car. It’s a must-have.
If you are a female who finds herself in a predicament where you may have to engage in a fistfight against a more powerful man, it is crucial to learn self-defense techniques that are specifically designed to target the attacker.
There are several types of martial arts lessons available, which you can use for self-protection and learning to escape from situations like being held down or having someone hang on to you. Additionally, you can take courses to learn how to utilize deadly self-defense tools like firearms.
It’s crucial to receive self-defense training to feel capable and robust in the event of a genuine assault. You would never want to reveal to an attacker that you’re terrified and unsure of your ability to defend yourself.
Certain aspects of security and personal protection require a strategic approach. For instance, when someone knocks on the door and asks whether your spouse is present, never respond by saying you don’t have a spouse or they’re not at home.
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Similarly, you don’t want to broadcast your location on social media, stating that you’re alone and have kids. By doing so, you essentially put a target on your back for men seeking such opportunities.
Unique Survival Nutritional and Medical Needs for Women
As a woman and a survivalist, your requirements will be distinct from those of males. As a result, you must prepare for both you and your loved ones in terms of nutrition, health, and potential medical emergencies.
Let us first examine the dietary distinctions. Women who are still menstruating may require additional iron in their diets. However, in a survival scenario, there may be fewer foods that are rich in iron, so you may want to consider taking supplements to prevent the onset of symptoms such as fatigue.
Women should also stock up on calcium as a supplement. Because osteoporosis affects more females as they age, it is important to keep your bones strong to survive in a situation where a fracture and a lack of medical attention could be extremely harmful.
You may encounter additional health needs, such as preparing for menstrual cycles. These items, like pads, tampons, and a reusable menstrual cup, may be necessary. There’s also a new type of underwear, Thinx Period Underwear for Women. I wore these on an 8-hour drive. Works great!
If you have severe menstrual cramps, you may need extra pain medication. Additionally, if you are of childbearing age and want to become pregnant, you may want to consider carrying a birth control method in the event of an unintended pregnancy.
In this instance, you’ll need extra items like prenatal vitamins or folate. You may need additional resources if you cannot obtain hospital facilities or a healthcare professional during childbirth.
As women enter menopause, they have their own unique needs. During this time, their hormone levels fluctuate, and they may require the assistance of herbal remedies to alleviate certain symptoms.
Women are susceptible to various health problems that do not concern men. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis are examples of such conditions. These conditions were of special annoyance to me, causing me to have a DNC and a hysterectomy a few years later. I don’t think I would be living very long if I had these problems and trying to survive!
Some conditions affect both males and females but are more prevalent in women, like bacterial vaginosis or urinary tract infections (UTIs).
It’s important to ensure that you have the necessary medication and any required alleviation for any present health concerns or those that may arise in the future. Taking preventive measures is crucial for enduring.
Skills Women Need to Learn for Survival Situations
When considering survival events, the entire goal of preparing in advance is not to rely on a government or agency to rescue you. Likewise, you don’t want to have to turn to any other person to bail you out of a precarious situation.
Whether you are a man or a woman, you need to have certain survival skills based on what you may or may not have access to. Sometimes, women forget that they need more than typical homemaking skills, and men forget to train for anything other than typical masculine skills.
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You can’t assign a gender to survival skills. Everyone must understand how to do all these things because you never know whether you will be alone and have to fend for yourself.
Don’t let anyone, even if you are in a marriage, tell you that you only need to know how to cook, clean, and garden. While these are all wonderful survival skills that will be useful in any event, you must also know how to build a shelter, repair your home or car, and hunt or fish for food.
Many women today don’t know how to change a tire or the oil in their car. Just because these were traditionally tasked men passed down to their sons, it doesn’t mean that as a woman, you can’t learn how to do this in today’s world and be prepared for a survival situation where you might be stranded on the side of the road relying on a stranger to stop and assist you.
Read – Home Security After The Collapse: The Ultimate Guide
This is a difficult subject because, on the one hand, you’re being told to learn everything as if it’s a gender-neutral approach. But on the other hand, you do have special considerations to make as a woman preparing for survival events.
Nothing will be fair in a chaotic environment where people focus on survival. People will steal, attack, and take advantage of others regardless of who they are.
As a woman, you want to do as much as possible early on to ensure you’re not assuming anyone else will be kind or help you in an emergency. You want to rely on yourself and yourself alone.
Examples of Famous Women in Survival Situations
These are a few examples of famous women who have shown courage and resilience in survival situations. Their stories are an inspiration to us all.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder: Laura Ingalls Wilder was a pioneer who wrote about her experiences in the American Midwest in the 1870s and 1880s. Her books, including Little House on the Prairie and The Long Winter, chronicle the struggles and successes of her family as they survived the harsh winters and other challenges of the frontier.
- Nellie Bly: Nellie Bly was an investigative journalist who wrote for the New York World. In 1889, she posed as a patient at the Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum to expose the abuse and neglect there. Her reporting led to reforms at the asylum and other institutions nationwide.
- Amelia Earhart: Amelia Earhart was an aviator who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She also set numerous other aviation records. In 1937, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared while attempting to fly around the world. Their whereabouts remain a mystery.
- Annie Edson Taylor: Annie Edson Taylor was a daredevil who, in 1901, became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She survived the fall but was seriously injured.
- Junko Tabei: Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer who, in 1975, became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She also climbed the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent.
Make a plan to gain knowledge, secure supplies, and practice what you’re learning so that when the world is crumbling around you, there won’t be a shred of doubt that you’ve got what it takes to weather any storm all by yourself.
I’m the daughter of 2 original survivalists who moved from the north to sunny Florida. My mother, along with her parents, bought 30 mostly uncleared acres in 1938. The first home was made of pecky-cypress and built by a house-raising. My mother raised 10,000 chickens.
My divorced mother met and married my father in 1948. From pine trees on our property, he hand-built a log cabin. He also built a tarpaper-lined 65’x45′ pool with duck pond overflow. We had an artesian well for our water and powering our hand-built waterwheel for the pool. He built a substantial cantilevered roof workshop with a car pit in the massive cement floor.
Since my early teens, I have read a ton of books about survival, prepping, the bomb, an apocalypse, homestead living, and SHTF situations. As an adult, I continue to read sci-fi, survival prepping, and science. I practice a prepper lifestyle albeit a bit modified, read a lot, buy a lot, pack/store a lot of anything survival related.
Read my About Me post for more details on our self-sufficient living. I lived there until I went to college in 1968.
My SurvivalPrepperSupply.com blog strives to educate individuals on coping with natural and human-caused disasters using article posts about preparing for emergencies.
