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Freedom Personal Safety | Everyone has the right to be safe

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Stay Safe Forever women's personal safety course

This is a comprehensive course that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, and includes simple but effective physical techniques to defend against sexual assault or rape. It is not a martial arts course. We take an holistic approach to self defence and explore issues such as finding your voice, believing in yourself and developing your inner as well as physical strength.

The course lasts 9 hours and covers:
* facts and figures about crime rates and reporting self defence strategies
* how you can use your own 'personal weapons' to defend yourself
* simple physical techniques designed for 'everywoman' (you do not need to be fit or agile to take part)
* body language and effective communication
* crime statistics and attitudes towards rape and sexual assault
* self defence and the law
* reducing risk
* ' breakaway techniques' to escape from different physical encounters

Every participant receives a detailed 70-page manual containing advice, tips and pictures of the physical techniques covered.

Women who complete the course receive a 'lifetime practice guarantee' which means you can attend future courses free of charge for the rest of your life to practice your techniques to build your confidence.

We can deliver the course over 2, 3 or 4 sessions or even in 1 day - whatever best suits you. We are happy to discuss timings around the needs of individual groups. We can run courses for between 6 and 12 women.

If you have any questions about the course, please contact us.

The cost of the course vary according to the size of the group and the location. We can sometimes offer discounts for non-profit making groups and individuals - please use our contact form and we will be happy to discuss this further.

Stay Safe women's personal safety workshops

Our workshops are tailored to the needs and experiences of participants but they all include practical tips and advice on how to reduce risk, increase awareness and build confidence.

Each workshop includes simple but effective physical techniques to defend against an attack. The techniques we teach are designed for 'everywoman' regardless of size, shape, age (open to women age 14+), agility or level of fitness.

Workshops last 90 minutes or 2 hours and include:
* importance of body language
* how you can use your own 'personal weapons'
* practical tips on reducing risks
* simple physical techniques and breakaway moves

We run workshops for community groups, organisations, youth groups, in workplaces and for groups of friends - in fact, anywhere there is a group of women. Workshops can be run for 8 (minimum) to 20 (maximum) participants.

If you would like more information, please complete the contact form on the contact us page and we will get back to you.

If you would like more information, please complete the contact form on the contact us page and we will get back to you.

Personal safety talks

45-minute talks on how and why we set up Freedom Personal Safety, plus tips and activities on keeping safe.

Family Safety Programme

This programme brings together our Stay Safe Forever women's course plus one or more of our Keep Me Safe children's workshops. It was developed for women and children who had experienced domestic abuse, but is available to all families.

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J who has been through the criminal justice system

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Women - Freedom Personal Safety | Everyone has the right to be safe

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Stay Safe Forever women's personal safety course This is a comprehensive course that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, and includes simple but effective physical techniques to defend against sexual assault or rape. It is not a ... Continue reading →

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Women's Day: Traditions and Liminality at Carnival

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Womens Day at Carnival in Cologne | Video of the day

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Cologne Carnival Parade Route

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Thousands turn out for Cologne carnival parade

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'Tourists cancel Cologne trips ahead of carnival amid sexual assault fears'

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'Tourists cancel Cologne trips ahead of carnival amid sexual assault fears'

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Police have been called on to urgently rethink their tactics in the light of the recent mass sexual assaults in Cologne, with tourists already cancelling trips to the city ahead of the annual carnival celebrations.

In an emailed statement to IBTimes UK Christina Gehlen, a spokeswoman for the city's tourism office, said: ""We are currently getting some hundred emails and phone calls of worried people who already visited Cologne or plan a trip.

"In addition, we got feedback from many people who cancelled a planned trip to Cologne following the incidents on New Year's Eve, especially around carnival, which is regularly one of the city's key events for visitors."

More than 80 women have come forward to report being sexually assaulted outside Cologne's main train station on New Year's Eve by a mob of up to 1,000 men described as being of Arab or North African appearance.

There has being fierce criticism of Cologne's police force for its response to the attacks, with no one so far charged, and calls for the city's police chief to resign. In initial reports police claimed the night had been "largely peaceful".

Ralf Jaeger, interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, said that police had to "adjust" to the fact that men were working in groups to target women in order to secure the safety of visitors.

He said that police had to ensure that there was no repeat of the attacks. "Something like this must not happen again - not only in Cologne, but also in other big cities," he said.

"The police have to conceptually adjust to the fact that there are apparently groups of perpetrators who assault women en masse. This must not happen in our society and the police as well as the city authorities have to react to it."

A police memo obtained by Germany's Spiegel newspaper paints a picture of how officers struggled to cope as New Year celebrations descended into anarchy, with women targeted by gangs of men.

"Women, accompanied or not, literally ran a 'gauntlet' through masses of heavily intoxicated men that words cannot describe," a senior police official writes. "Security forces were unable to get all of the incidents, assaults, crimes, etc. under control. There were simply too many happening at the same time."

Police union chief Rainer Wendt said a lack of resources meant that the Cologne force had been unable to clear the square properly. He was critical of the federal government, claiming that officers had been sent from the city to police the the country's borders.

Police are reportedly considering bringing in reinforcements from throughout Germany and installing sophisticated surveillance cameras to police the end of carnival celebrations, which begin in early February, and are marked by raucous street parties and the Rosenmontag parade through the city centre.

The city's mayor, Henriette Reker, came under fire when suggesting that women should keep "at certain distance more than an arm's length" from unknown men, when she discussed planned guidelines for behaviour for those attending the festival.

Gehlen said that city authorities were working to ensure the safety of visitors. "We are deeply concerned about the attacks on New Year's Eve at Cologne Central Station. This never happened before and we do not expect that it will become the rule.

"We count on the quick clarification of facts through the responsible institutions and the immediate implementation of security measures by the City of Cologne and the police, such as an intensified presence of policemen and video surveillance, so that visitors to Cologne can feel safe again."

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Tourists cancel Cologne trips ahead of carnival amid sexual assault fears

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Police have been called on to urgently rethink their tactics in the light of the recent mass sexual assaults in Cologne, with tourists already cancelling trips to the city ahead of the annual carnival celebrations.

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Cologne Safety and Need to Include Multi-Cultures

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Cologne Safety and Need to Include Multi-Cultures

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"immigrants, not-so-educated, and don't know the language. Therefore, they find it difficult to get work and they become part of local groups of petty crime,"

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"I don't think police have lost control. Even in further out areas with a bad reputation, I've never heard of any no-go areas," Jana Gibhardt-Engle tells The Local.

Gibhardt Engle moved to Cologne 19 years ago and says she has never felt unsafe walking around the city at night, or attending large events such as carnival and gay pride.

The 38-year-old was responding to comments made in October by Andreas Hupke, mayor of Cologne's central Innenstadt district, who accused police of "giving up control" of Ebertplatz, a busy traffic hub with a reputation for drug dealing and violence.

With police statistics showing drug-related crime at its highest rate in a decade, and a rise in violent crime of 3.6 percent from 2015 to 2016, a heated debate continues over whether crime in Germany's fourth city is becoming unmanageable.

'Things have gotten worse'

Crime in Cologne "definitely has gotten worse since the extreme influx of immigrants" to parts of the city, says Gina McAnally, a finance professional who moved to the city in 2009.

"Obviously drunk people and aggressive behaviour" now put her off attending crowded events, while she complains that her neighbourhood "feels like a mistreated stepchild at times - there is not enough money going towards safety, education and generally increasing livability."

Police have "continually had their budgets slashed and there just aren't enough of them to go around and handle all the hot spots," she says.

An underpass on the edge of Ebertplatz. Photo: Wikipemedia Commons

Nazmul Huq Russell, a PhD researcher who, like McAnally, lives in the eastern Kalk district, says he and his wife now feel less safe walking through the streets than they did when they first moved to the neighbourhood.

His wife has been the victim of verbal abuse on the streets, and he has had trouble with drug dealers. One time a drug dealer "approached me to sell drugs, when I asked them not to disturb me, they were furious and started heated arguments," he relates.

Russell believes the root of the problem is marginalization. Many of the dealers are "immigrants, not-so-educated, and don't know the language. Therefore, they find it difficult to get work and they become part of local groups of petty crime," he says.

'No no-go areas'

Concerns about safety in Cologne are not universal, though. Miguel Lopes, an engineer who has lived in the city for the past few years, hasn't felt any significant change in crime levels.

"From the places I know, I can't really tell you about one that's totally unsafe," he says. "In Cologne, the stuff that you usually have to worry about is more like pick pocketing and that's mostly in the touristy areas".

For Jana Gibhardt-Engle, fears about crime are a result of a lack of affordable housing, which she claims is fuelling resentment of immigrants.

"Because of gentrification it is very difficult to find housing in Cologne, especially at the lower end."

"Competition between poorer people and refugees", which comes from a perception that immigrants are given more support from the city than other vulnerable residents, has given rise to the false idea that immigrants are making areas of the city unsafe, she argues.

She brushes off recent headlines about Ebertplatz, saying the square was always a centre of drug dealing.

'Ebertplatz was normal before'

Estefanía Escobar-Kölle, a resident of the now notorious hot spot of Ebertplatz, tells a different story.

"I moved to Ebertplatz around three years ago and the square was a normal place then. But in the last year and a half things started to change and now it's a difficult place," she says.

Escobar-Kölle says she used to feel uncomfortable crossing the square, as there are a large number of not only drug dealers, but drug users, as well as "different groups fighting and shouting". She now avoids it entirely after a young man was stabbed to death there in October.

Police in patrolling the square 4 days after the knife attack. Photo: DPA

Residents of the square have demanded from local authorities that they provide a permanent police presence. In the short term, better lighting has been commissioned for the underpasses, while police president Uwe Jacob has responded by announcing a plan to increase the police presence there, Focus reports.

But Escobar-Kölle doubts whether the police have the capacity to cope with the problem.

Authorities are "trying to be as present as possible in the city and in troubled areas" and "simply can't tackle all issues at the same time due to a lack of resources, manpower and government funding," she says.

READ MORE: Mayor accuses police of 'giving up control' after murder in Cologne square

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Is Cologne becoming a more dangerous place to live?

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"I don't think police have lost control. Even in further out areas with a bad reputation, I've never heard of any no-go areas," Jana Gibhardt-Engle tells The Local. Gibhardt Engle moved to Cologne 19 years ago and says she has never felt unsafe walking around the city at night, or attending large events such as carnival and gay pride.

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Are you thinking of traveling to Duesseldorf or Cologne, Germany, for the upcoming Carnival next month? Perhaps tourists planning to travel to Germany to join in yelling out "Helau" or "Alaaf" at Cologne and Duesseldorf's streets should better think again.

German police in Cologne now say New Years mob violence cases rise to 516. Women were raped in front of the Cologne Main Train Station and the famous Cologne Cathedral. Initial investigations clearly show Middle East immigrants commited many of these crimes. A similar less publicized situation was recorded in the nearby city of Duesseldorf, also in front of the Duesseldorf Main Train Station (HBF. More attacks were recorded in Hamburg. Officials are more and more convinced there may be a planned system. In other news a Syrian refuge committed numerous crimes in Germany while residing in a shelter. He had 7 aliases and still was allowed to remain in Germany. He now traveled to France and tried to murder two police officers before he was shot and killed by local authorities.

The extend of this coordinated mass crime is still unfolding and it had caught German authorities by surprise.

A German reader writes: "How do you know they were immigrants?
They were drunk, meaning that they couldn't have been devout Muslims.
Therefore, it was most likely gangs, using a new method of sexual assault as a cover to steal. Women were also robbed? Rabble rousing?﻿"

The yearly Carnival season is coming up in the first week in February. Hundred thousands of locals and tourists from all over the world will be on the streets in Cologne and Dusseldorf. The yearly carnival parade and the days around this parade had always been a tourism and cultural highlight for both city on the Rhine river.

The Carnival season is known for parties, drinking and having a good time. Most offices and shops are closed on Carnival Monday (Rosenmontag)

Visitors may want to watch out for criminals joining the party wearing masks and costumes this year.

Authorities and organizers are worried. Safety is on top of everyones agenda.
In the past a stiff competition was in place to become Prince Carnival in Cologne. This year Cologne had a hard to convince Prinz Thomas II to accept his appointment.

Canadian Ezra Levant reports on the mass assaults that occurred in Germany on New Years Eve, carried out by Muslim refugees. Could the same thing happen in Canada?

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Carnival safety: Think twice before visiting Cologne or Duesseldorf in Germany - eTurboNews (eTN)

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Are you thinking of traveling to Duesseldorf or Cologne, Germany, for the upcoming Carnival next month? Perhaps tourists planning to travel to Germany to join in yelling out "Helau" or "Alaaf" at Cologne and Duesseldorf's streets should better think again. German police in Cologne now say New Years mob violence cases rise to 516.

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Every region has its own characteristics, the Rhinelander being no exclusion. But the people of Cologne are a "nation" of their own kind.

As an ancient Roman city Cologne was home to a population in which the characteristics of many races were united in a successful "Gemölsch" (blend). The city grew to be Germany's largest trading metropolis in the Middle Ages with an influx of merchants, bargees, craftsmen and pilgrims over the course of the centuries. That was the basis of the Rhineish tolerance for his fellow men. Furthermore, as a leading congress and trade fair city, Cologne is accustomed to dealing with foreigners.

Cosmopolitan, open-minded, friendly are characteristics describing people from Cologne. However, the "Kölner" are known to be a rather superficial and making friends may take some time. The population of the city on the Rhine, is made up of "Kölner" and "Kölsche". Kölner are people who live here, Kölsche are those who where born here and in whose veins the pulse of this city can be felt. On occasions, you may only require a couple of hours in a cheerful round to become a genuine "Kölsche". Some people, however, will never learn. That makes it clear that to truly understand the Kölsche one first has to understand their attitude towards life.

Not every wild-looking figure you see during Carnival period is really as exotic as he may appear, even if his language may sound a little strange to you. The chances are good that he or she is a local resident in fancy dress. Do not despair if you do not understand the Kölner right away; Kölsch is regarded as one of the strangest dialects and, incidentally, is the only language you can also drink ("Kölsch" being the name for the dialect and the local beer as well). Anyway, words are not everything during Carnival, the right gesture is equally important. The language of "Fasteleer" is international.

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Every region has its own characteristics, the Rhinelander being no exclusion. But the people of Cologne are a "nation" of their own kind. As an ancient Roman city Cologne was home to a population in which the characteristics of many races were united in a successful "Gemölsch" (blend).

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Proposed Sponsor - Art'otel Cologne

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Cologne Hotels along the Rhine River in Germany | art'otel cologne

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Allow us to wow you at our art'otel cologne along the Rhine River in Germany. Enjoy our many amenities, including an on-site restaurant and bar, and more.

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Different Levels of Community Consultation

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Different Levels of Community Consultation

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(Wilcox, 1994)

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Different Levels of Community Consultation.docx