OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WXYZ) — From GPS alert trackers to pepper spray concealed in hairbrushes and an all-aluminum striking tool, these are just some of the many non-lethal self-defense tools Rochelle Morton believes every woman should carry.
"If I strike you with this, you are going down," said Rochelle Morton, director of Damsel in Defense. "We are not alerted that we are going to be attacked. So I want to be ready. I only have 2.6 seconds to respond," said Morton.
"Damsel in Defense" aims to equip, empower, and educate women from becoming victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse.
"All these products are 100% a game changer," said Morton.
And Rochelle's friend and customer, Debbie Crowley, can't agree more.
"If I had had some of the things that it could've helped me escape," said Crowley.
During her 30s, Crowley used to work as a model in New York. That's when she met her ex-husband. Crowley says never in her wildest dreams did she think her prince charming would become physically abusive.
"Like, he literally sat on top of me and was just beating me to a pulp. I would go to work with black eyes. I was also putting on make-up trying to cover it, so if that was that lack of self-confidence, I didn't have confidence in myself, and I thought I didn't feel worthy and thought it was okay for someone to hit me," said Crowley.
Data from Oakland County-based HAVEN shows:
- 1 in 3 Michigan families are impacted by domestic violence.
- Nationally, more than 1 million people report a violent assault by a partner every year.
- Approximately one in five female high school students report being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.
"If you are planning on causing me any harm and I have to assume that you're gonna do the worst. I'm gonna use whatever I can to do the worst to you because if there's somebody's that gonna survive, this is gonna be me," said Morton.
As for the question, why not carry a firearm instead? Morton says she is not against firearms, "but I am concerned about is if you you're not prepared to pull the trigger because then that person can take the firemen and use it against you," she said.
Morton's next project is to legalize stun devices here in Michigan as another self-defense tool.
To find out more about this initiative, email Morton at personalprotecther@gmail.com.
To learn more about Damsel in Defense, click here.
