"I often walk home alone after work. It once happened that three young men with dark skin followed me and became aggressive. One even tried to hold my hand. I then said loudly that he should let go. I also had pepper spray with me, but it was not used because, thank God, the three of them went away and left me alone," says Barbara Mayer. The 22-year-old employee shares this experience with many women who are sexually harassed by asylum seekers on a daily basis. In order to defend themselves against such cowardly attacks by men, more and more women are attending self-defense courses. This is one of Mayer, who is standing with 30 other women in a training hall in Klagenfurt and listening attentively to the words of kickboxing trainer Thomas Anderle. "I teach Krav Maga. It is a simple and extremely effective self-defense system that relies on instinctive movements, practical techniques and realistic training scenarios. Krav Maga is pure self-defense and not a martial art or combat sport. It is one of the most recognized and effective self-defense systems. It is also very easy to learn and is even part of the training of the Israeli police and military. You defend yourself with your open hand, with kicks and with a hammer fist," says Anderle. The courses focus on reenacting various attack scenarios. The worst scenario for the women attending the self-defense course: the attacker has already thrown the woman to the ground, is sitting on her and is trying to kiss her. "Then you should headbutt him, he is irritated and the woman can make an explosive upward movement with her hips so that the man rolls off. But that takes practice," says trainer Anderle. The expert recommends completing ten training sessions of two hours each. "Then you have already practiced a certain automatism. This is important so that you can act reflexively in an emergency situation."