The sale of self-defense equipment and the increased enrollment in martial arts schools is proving that the women in Santiago are taking care of themselves. Just during the past week women thwarted attempts by a purse-snatcher and a drunk who tried to do harm. Revolvers, pepper sprays, and stun-guns are flying off the shelves according to a report carried in El Caribe. According to Juan Pena, who owns the Heptagon Armory in Santiago, equipment and gun sales have increased by 300% or 350%. Last March, sales of stun-guns or revolvers were about one a month. “Now we are seeing three a month to women.” According to Pena. Pepper spray sales have increased from two or three a month to 14. In five other armories, reporters from El Caribe found similar numbers. At the Impacto Armory on Yapor Dumit Avenue, 50 pepper spray canisters sold out in just five days.
Leonarda Fernandez has practiced karate and Judo for decades, and last week tackled a purse-snatcher and held him down until the police arrived. Earlier in the week a woman who had practiced Tae Kwon Do for several years kicked and punched a drunk who was attempting to assault her. The drunk, Jose Martinez, told reporters the same story he gave to the Police: “I only wanted to pull her hair.” Ms. Fernandez told the reporters that she never regretted learning Judo, since “it is my main self defense in the face of violence.”
District Attorney Raul Martinez told the staff reporters that “women have the right to defend themselves…” Martinez also told the press that since the beginning of the year there have been 36 violent deaths from the first of April until the end of May, an average of 18 deaths per month. This is, however a slight dip in the numbers from January through March, when the average was 21 violent deaths per month.