[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

With a disturbing rise of assaults on females, I think any advice on prevention is doing the problem a friggin' service... It can be very valuable to women to know that kicking, punching, or striking a male attacker in the penis is the best method for self-defense. It will literally take the attacker out of commission long enough for the attackee to escape. This of course does not work if there are more than two attackers or the attacker is wearing a penis supporter and/or trained in male self-defense (in which penis protection techniques hold primacy). Your thoughts?

[alancalverd]

Man kills woman is news. Man kills man, or woman kills man, rarely makes the front page, but in the UK at least, it accounts for at least 3 times as many deaths. So beware of "rise of assaults on females..." which may only be "rise of headline-worthy assaults....."

And remeber that "Secretary of State for Health kills 60,000 pensioners" guarantees a Ministerial post in the next government.

That said, a poke in the eye is the preferred starting point if you are wearing "feminine" shoes: it also works for female attackers, and can confer permanent disability with least effort. But yes, a kick in the groin is always an acceptable followup. Killing one attacker may dissuade a second, so concentrate your fire until they run away.

[paul cotter]

I did karate for 3 years(I was useless at  it). If in trouble with a male assailant and all else failed, we were told to strike (a) the testicles, (b) the eyes or (c) the hyoid, just above the larynx. That's all very well in theory but you have to be able to do these actions without thinking about it, just like hitting the brakes in a car if, say a child runs out. It has to be an automatic reflex and this only comes with extensive training.

[Deecart]

For women i think that localisation (a) and (b) should be avoided.

(a) because the pain take some seconds to occur after the hit.
Some poeple can endure this pain easyly
This is not a real handicap, and this could make the agressor very angry.
The only advantage is that if the one wanted to rape, he will probably drop the case, the agression become useless.

(b) It is not easy to hit the eyes.
It is useless to hit only one eye especialy if you only use your punch.
If you punch the face you have to be very carefull not to injure your own hand (and this is very likely what will occur if someone that is not trained try this for the first time, head is a very robust part of the body).

(c) yes, this is probably the best choice within the 3.
This part of the body is very weak.
You can not really injure yourself by hitting it and you can also use the palm of your hand to surely avoid injuring yourself if you miss the target..
A hit on this weak spot can injure severely any type of individual, strong or not.

My advise :
Try always to avoid fight, yell for help, and if you can run, do it.

[alancalverd]

Finger, not fist, in the eye. No rush. Two fingers better.

Hyoid takes a bit of training: you could break a very expensive fingernail with a straight-finger punch, and you need a bit of space for a karate edge-chop. If you can punch the hyoid with a clenched fist, you might as well aim for the point of the jaw and a knockout.

Up close, just bite whatever comes nearest.

I was coached by a county-level woman shot-putter. Not a tank of lard but a slim athlete who said technique mattered more than mass. One evening she said she had been assaulted en route to the student union bar. "So I punched him. Felt a couple of ribs break, and came here for a drink." But that takes years of training.

[Petrochemicals]

Probably a pair of trainers, harsh but true.

[JesWade21]

Bear repellent. If you don't want to lug around a can (of bear spray) the size of insect repellent, a small can of pepper spray will suffice.

It'll spray 20-30 feet and make a hot mess of whoever or whatever you spray it at.

[alancalverd]

.....once you have managed to open your handbag and found it among......er.......whatever it is that The Boss apparently needs to carry everywhere.....

Which brings me to a serious point. Why don't women have pockets? Or when they do, why don't they keep important stuff in them? Anyone old enough to remember "Cagney and Lacey" probably wondered how Lacey always got her man by running in heeled shoes whilst extracting a gun from her shoulder bag. 

And on the subject of movie cliches, how on earth did plots evolve before mobile phones? Shakespeare limited himself to one "enter a messenger"  per act, but "I've got to take this call" now occurs even more frequently than "he has a right to know" and "I don't want to involve the police".