Feeling safe and building trust come before learning. A basic course can offer enough concepts and skills to help you develop self-protection strategies that you can continue to build upon. Self-defense is not karate or martial arts training. It does not require years of study to perfect. Many people have successfully improvised and prevented an assault who have never taken a class.
Rape survivors speak eloquently about emotional hurts lasting long after physical hurts heal.
Studies show a physical self-defense response does not increase the level of physical injury, and sometimes decreases the likelihood. Also, going along with the attacker does not guarantee that you will not be brutally injured anyway. Knowing some physical techniques increases the range of possible self-defense options, but the decision to choose a physical option must remain with the person in the situation. Choosing a self-defense class is a serious decision and is preferably based on some research. Responsible self-defense training requires control.