The Self-Defense Weapons Asian American Women Now Carry – BuzzFeed News
Twitter user @kehlar, a 46-year-old Taiwanese American woman who wished to remain anonymous, felt the need to up the ante of self-defense in a major way this year: She started carrying around a whistle and alarm anytime she stepped outside her Bay Area home. She tweeted in March that she felt “like an easy target” because she’s “a petite middle-aged Asian lady. ”
“I’m at a point now that I feel that we as AAPIs need to take matters into our own hands and protect ourselves and the vulnerable people in our community, ” she said.
“Carrying these self-defense items makes me feel more ready to defend myself. I’m not sure that it can make me really feel safer. ”
RJ Castaneda, a Filipinx American resident of the Bay Area, recently bought pepper spray for his parents, sister, plus female cousin. He now carries spice up spray as well when he goes out with regard to exercise and has attended the bystander intervention workshop. “I fear randomly being attacked while running, ” this individual said, adding that he is even more worried for his sister and cousin. “Being a woman already has its safety concerns, but the surge in Asian attacks only added on. ”
Almost everyone BuzzFeed Information spoke to acknowledged the pragmatism of self-defense tools as a short-term coping mechanism. These items offer protection not just from assailants but from the fear Hard anodized cookware Americans shoulder as they simply move through an average day.
“There are so many people who are scared and not leaving their homes, ” said Barbara Yau, cofounder of the groups Concerned Asian American Citizens of New York City and Safe From Hate, which has distributed thousands of free personal safety alarms. “I think that people are just looking for confidence when they walk out the door. They want to have some kind of plan. ”
Yau, like many others, does not believe a few self-defense equipment can fully address problems hundreds of years in the making.
“I don’t think [these devices are] really a solution, unfortunately, ” said Yau. “We were hoping that news would get out and people would be afraid in order to attack if people had some kind of alarm. But I think it is a Band-Aid. I don’t see that it’s deterring crime at all. ”