I have today been asked this question by a personal safety tutor:

“Hi
At a recent training session I was asked  if there were any suggestions of how to try to get someone to release hold of you during an incident if talking to them was not working or not an option.  Have you any suggestions?
Thanks”

Many thanks for the question asked. In answering such a question, I will always want to establish first:

• Have you considered (and followed) local procedures to prevent such an incident from occurring?
• Have you got a way to raise the alarm, as the presence of others might defuse the situation? This might include monitored CCTV, panic alarms or other similar actions
• Does external factors like drugs, alcohol or the influence of certain mental health problems play a role in the violence?

All of these factors will have a significant impact on your choices. If the above answers have been considered, you will obviously stray into the realm of the Criminal Law Act 1967. Although this is not meant as a legal commentary on the law, any response will need to consider these factors:

• Are you sure force has been used against you (the application, or the threat to apply, physical contact whether by hand or discharge (weapon).
• If yes to the above, consider whether the circumstances are any of these: self defence / defending another / preventing a crime
• If yes to the above, any response needs to be minimum force, it must be necessary to use force (e.g. Not possible to flee without yourself using force) and the amount of force needs to be reasonable.

Any assessment of the legality of your response will consider the “anguish of one’s mind”, therefore Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act refers to the phrase “everything will depend on the particular facts and circumstances”. Therefore in answering your question, what you do in response to being physically held will essentially be “any action that will maximise your safety within the constraints of the law, whether you use force or not”. In practice you might consider:

• Doing nothing (as the attacker can release their grip if there is no counterforce used)
• Shout for help
• Break from their grip by any reasonable means possible and try to flee.

I hope it helps – clearly this is a very complicated matter, and clear evidence as to why we are reluctant to engage in full-blown self defence skills….