CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A dangerous assault at a Dollar General in Lehigh Acres has one business owner in Cape Coral ready to help women defend themselves.
At South West Self Defense, the #NotMe that students see on their walls is more than a message.
Owner, Pamela Hull, says it’s a declaration that women don't have to be victims of assault.
“Women come to me for two different reasons they have either had an experience and they want to learn how to defend, keep themselves safe,” said Hull.
On Tuesday, Pamela Hull, a 13 year, decorated martial artist spoke with Fox 4 after a female employee at a Dollar General had to fight off a man she was told was following a young girl and her grandmother.
Police were called to the store in Lehigh Acres and arrested the man, charging him with burglary with assault or battery. More on that story click here.
It’s a situation nobody should have to experience, but one Hull teaches every day.
“Part of the training would have been once the perpetrator got so close to the storekeeper, definitely she was in her right to defend hersefl. So we would teach things like a groin kick, a knee strike, a palm strike, using your elbows. It is within your right to defend if you are feeling threatened,” said Hull.
Hull teaches her students to use all of their abilities to fight off an attacker because she knows what it’s like to feel powerless in the face of danger.
“I’m here to tell you that I am living proof of that.. I had an armed robbery many, many years ago,” said Hull.
Since then, Hull has made it her mission to provide women with the tools to defend themselves and the mindset that nobody should rob you of your safety.
“When you get that confidence and feel empowered to do so, you are aware of your surroundings you are aware of possible threats,” she said.
Hull says she wants women to know her gym is a safe place for students to share their stories of assault and that they will continue to turn a bad situation into being able to strike back.
