No, I have never been in a situation that had escalated to where I felt extremely threatened. I really would be in trouble if all I had left was physical violence!
Infact, if this was to become society's way of dealing with things where would it leave those of us that are small and not very strong?

I understand where you're coming from here.

It would not be appropriate for me to say how Jackies daughters situation might have been managed because I do not know everything that went on and besides that would be far too personal.
I don't for a minute suggest conflict management is the appropriate response for catching someone interfering with a baby.

Fair comments Hewey, thank you for replying.

you say about small and not very strong people
my daughter is 5ft and weighs 7 stone
her ex is 6ft and weighs 18 stone

not right is it that he should bully her like that and get away with it

I think this shows what I am saying about the futility of dealing with these matters in a physical way.

I think violence is never justified although it is a natural reaction for one to fight in self defence .

I was a volunteer for many years with a large organisation and during that time I met many violent people and was threatened with a knife . I also had to walk alone to my car at odd times of the night through an area frequented by drunks and drug uses. I guess I was very luck because I was never harmed and managed to talk my way out of a lot of difficult situations. No doubt had I been attacked I would have defended myself instinctively but I would have tried to do so without causing physical harm to my attacker.

I reckon that the majority of the time you can take the heat out of a situation by talking. I think this is a great skill but one that a lot of us don't have or don't see the benefits of.

Gosh this has moved on a bit hasn't it?

I have to say, the policing in my area, so far, touch wood, has been okay, if someone is in immediate danger even the helicopter appears. There will always be exceptions to that.

I agree with Hewey I think. Far better to stay calm and rational and talk it down than to react violently. I am not saying that works in ALL cases, but it surely has to be a better course of action than just lamping someone immediately or setting vigilante groups on people.

Yes, our legal system has loopholes and problems, nothing is perfect. It is an awful lot better then a lot of legal systems though. Yes, the police at times can be heavy handed, yes they can get it wrong, they are only human after all.

Violence breeds violence...much better to talk your way out of situations if at all possible.

I can see that not all people have these skills but it is sad that there are also some that cannot see the benefit of them. I suspect Mini experience is not down to luck and that she does have it in her nature by the very fact that she was interesting in doing that sort of work anyway or maybe she was mentored by those already using the skills there, but it is possible for those who are not naturally that way to acquire these skills.
I think I was lucky leaving home and first working in the '70s when female empowerment was the thing :smt001 Every woman and her dog went on self defence and assertiveness training, not quite so fashionable now but these things are still available today together with more up to date conflict resolution courses, often run by local colleges and many employers run them or are happy to provide funds to attend because they will see the benefit in stress management, health and safety and customer relations.