MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A safety plan could help someone in danger take their first step toward getting out of that situation.
It is important to create a plan because violence can escalate.
While you cannot control your partner’s behavior, you can take steps to protect yourself and your children. A personalized safety plan can help you identify things you can do to better protect you and your children and help reduce the risk of being hurt.
“A safety plan is big, basically, either changing your phone number or changing your routine, maybe having to change the locks,” DHR’s Trauma Injury Prevention Coordinator, Cassie Bravo said. “What if there’s children involved, we have to find a way to also keep them safe.”
You can also put aside a bag with money, clothes, and medication as well as any important documents like birth certificates and social security cards.
Learning martial arts or how to neutralize a threat could be your first line of defense. Self-defense helps you develop awareness, assertiveness and strong verbal confrontational skills.
It also teaches you safety strategies for how to prevent, resist and escape a dangerous situation. And most importantly trust your instincts and always be aware of your surroundings.
“You always want to make sure that you’re feeling confident, you’re able to protect yourself in any given situation,” UFC Gym Media Director, Coral Cantu said. “There’s a lot of scenarios that could go wrong. You want to make sure that you’re prepared as well, for those things.”
UFC Gym and DHR are hosting a women’s only self-defense class on Saturday. Women will learn how to respond to real life scenarios because an attack could happen anywhere.
To register visit https://form.jotform.com/232494990619166
