Self-defense tools empowering women to protect themselves

Women in southern Colorado are joining others nationwide to fight crime and domestic abuse, through self-defense products.

“I’m a 20-something, single female who lives alone, and I would like to be able to protect myself at home,” Bethaney Rogers said.

Rogers attended a get-together Friday, where she learned about Damsel in Defense, a company that offers self-defense products, like pepper sprays, stun guns and stun batons.

“We don’t want to have the damsel in distress, ‘Oh somebody save me!'” Lisa Marie Staton said. “We want to empower women so that they can protect themselves if necessary.”

Staton said these tools are good middle ground for people who may not be comfortable using firearms. She said they can buy potential victims time.

“They’re not going to replace a police officer by no means, but they buy you time to protect yourself, just maybe remove yourself from the situation,” she said.