Page 4 ■ Thursday, February 9, 2012


BAKKEN NEWS Damsels in Defense


in the oil patch Feminine line of self-defense products sells


By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune


Bundle and says she’ll take the items in “Pink, pink, and, um, pink.” Eberle is the Spanish teacher at Ray


RAY — Jan Eberle buys the Sassy


High School, and a longtime dealer in a home products cosmetic line. But these “pink” items displayed in a


pouring into the oil patch and a whole new roster of sex offenders, women were already feeling a need for self protection, she said.


contrasting black and white animal print bag were not shades of lipstick. Not this time, girl. This merchandise — it also comes in


Tupperware party, though the Damsel in Defense product line, which was started by two Idaho women last fall, is sold the same way, at “parties” hosted by women in homes or public venues. Eberle hosted one for women in Ray in her classroom after school. About 20 women showed up, ranging


from young moms to senior women liv- ing alone. Ray is on U.S. Highway 2, about 40


minutes east of Williston and near a sub- stantial “man camp” development for oil workers. Within two hours, product “pro” Car-


rie Edwards had sold 27 orders worth more than $1,300 in keychain alarms that shriek like a crazy banshee, stun guns that look like pink cellphones but deliver 4.5 million volts of electricity to preferably the neck or groin area and a small weapon for jabbing soft tissue and bony surfaces of an attacker. These are items with a serious self-de-


fense purpose, intended to make a wom- an feel empowered instead of afraid, said business co-founder Mindy Lin. Within a few weeks of launching the


product line in Idaho, sales jumped into the oil patch, where business is booming, like so much else, she said. Jahna Edwards (no relation to Car-


rie Edwards), of Sidney, Mont., was the original contact for Damsel in Defense through a friend who lives in Idaho. She said within two months, nearly


50 parties and shows had been held throughout the oil patch, in Sidney, Wil- liston, Zahl and other towns.


This is defi nitely not your mother’s


purple and black — is a totally feminine line of self-defense products, including pepper spray, stun guns and keychain weapons.


morning run. Two men are now in cus- tody in Williams County on charges of aggravated kidnapping while the search for her body continues, concentrating on tree rows out in the countryside. Jahna Edwards said she cut back on


Facebook and other postings about the product because she didn’t want to ap- pear to be capitalizing on the Arnold tragedy. “Women were all over us” anyway, she


said.


product and as many as 10 parties every week in western North Dakota and east- ern Montana, she said. More than 200 women attended a re-


cent hands-on self-defense class in Wat- ford City and it’s clear the idea of protec- tion has really caught on. Some oil patch law enforcers say


women are not necessarily at more risk than they’ve ever been, though vigilance is always smart. Watford City Police Chief Slade Her-


fi ndahl said since Arnold’s abduction, he’s seen an increase in the number of women applying for concealed weapons permits, but he’s also seen zero reports of women being harassed or assaulted by strangers. He’s also seen zero women jogging


alone in recent weeks. McKenzie County Sheriff Depart- ment Capt. John Fulwider said more women and more men are coming in daily for concealed weapon permits. It was news to Fulwider that North


Dakota classifi es stun guns as a danger- ous weapon, meaning women who plan to carry one in their purse or pocket need a concealed weapons permit to do so, just as they would for a handgun. Carrie Edwards tells women who


come to Damsel in Defense parties about the North Dakota law — not so in Mon- tana — but said they can be legally car- ried openly without a permit.


There are now 30 people selling the LAUREN DONOVAN/Tribune


Carrie Edwards sold about $1,300 worth of self-defense items at a Damsel in Defense party in Ray last week. The parties — in fact the whole concept of self-defense — are popular recently in the oil patch, especially after the apparent abduction and presumed death of Sherry Arnold of Sidney, Mont.


more likely to be victims of domestic violence than victims of an unknown predator that “monster in the dark” sce- nario but said women should keep their eyes open and avoid putting themselves in a vulnerable situation. Williams County Sheriff Scott Busch- ing said there are plenty of rumors about women being followed by strange men or being hassled, but no actual reports to back that up the Arnold case a headliner of an exception. Assaults are man-to- man and usually in bars, he said. “I won’t pooh-pooh things. There are


Herfi ndahl said women are still much


how to use it, both Busching and Herfi n- dahl said. R.H. Jungemann of Ray, who attend- ed the Damsel in Defense product party in Ray, purchased a key alarm. “What happened in Sidney is a little


disappeared while on a Because of the thousands of men


Then came news of the apparent kid- napping and presumed death of Sherry Arnold, a teacher and mother in Sidney. Arnold, an outdoorsy and much-loved 42-year-old,


too close to home,” she said. She’s a runner, too, and said she runs


permit, but the key alarm is more practi- cal.


a lot of scary-looking men around here, but they’re looking for jobs, not women. I tell women to ‘Live your life. Your brain is your No. 1 weapon.’ They should have situational awareness,” Busching said. He said Williams County is poten-


tially more dangerous than it used to be. “But are the rapes out on the sidewalks? No, there’s not,” he said. Women who carry anything for self


defense, from a handgun to a stun gun, should be comfortable with it and know


in town now, not on perimeter roads. She stays on lighted streets and changes up her route quite a bit. Jungemann has a concealed weapons


This gives me a little feeling of safety, but not enough to let my guard down. I’m always conscious of the trucks in town,” she said. Jessica Ziebar pur-


chased a key alarm for her teenage daughter and a can of pepper spray for herself. “We are very scared around here, but I’m a


Ziebar Continued on next page “I’m not going to run with a pistol.


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