I read your article on eye attacks at  http://www.rapeescape.com/eyegouge.htm and have some questions.  You say, "place your palms on the side of his face. Your thumbs are now directly over his eyes. Press  in  and gouge!"  I assume that the goal of this technique is to blind  the attacker. How hard is it to accomplish this with  this technique and how do I know when to stop pushing? Wouldn't the assailant just grab my hands and continue his attack on me? What should I do if my arms are pinned down to the ground and my attacker is on top of me?

Actually, the goal of the eye gouge technique is not to blind the attacker, it's to get him to move. I know it might sound strange to you if you've never seen the Rape Escape method in action, but moving the attacker is more important to us than focusing on "hurting" the attacker (see the related article on "He's Drunk: Does Your Self-Defense System Rely Too Much on Pain Compliance?")

If your hands are free at this point (they are on his shoulders or along side of his face preparing for the eye gouge), it's because his hands are elsewhere...undressing you, undressing himself, etc.  One of the basic principles we follow is to "Control his hands, control his hips". His hands are a concern because they are what do damage to you by hitting, choking, slapping, etc. His hips are a concern to you because you want to control them to control the distance between you two.

Ironically, when you begin an eye gouge attack, you are going to re-establish control over his hands and his hips. How? His first reaction is going to be to try and turn his head and reach up to grab your hands. Now you know where his hands are (they're grabbing your hands). As he turns his head and reaches up, he invariably pulls up and back away from you. This allows you to control his hips because he gives you room to get your feet on his hips.

Apparently it can be very difficult to blind someone with this technique because the eyes are very flexible within the orbits and humans will do everything possible to protect their eyes. However, it can be very effective from interviews I've had with women who have used it on an attacker. In these cases, the attacker pulled back, covered his eyes and allowed the defender to get up and escape.

I've given you the clues on how to handle your next question with the previous answer.

Your question is actually the very FIRST scenario we cover in Rape Escape. We think you should start to learn the answer to the worst scenario -- the one you described. You are pinned to the ground, the attacker is between your legs and rape is imminent. When you know how to solve this worst-case problem, then any of the other problems seem relatively easy to solve in comparison.

You must control his hands and control his hips. Since he is pinning your arms to the ground, you essentially have control of his hands. Now, to control his hips, simply put your feet on his hips and push him back. This will give you room to bring your feet up along his center line and deliver kicks to his stomach, chest and face. (If you have very long legs, you might find that it is easier to just let your knees flop outward rather than try and bring them all the way to your chest).

Kick him with the bottom of your feet over and over again, sort of like you are pedaling a bicycle. Continue kicking until he is down or back enough for you to get up and escape.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you will continue your training and your quest for new information.

Stay safe,

Brad Parker