Our History

Damsel In Defense was founded in September of 2011 by two Idaho women with a passion for safety. Being moms, non-lethal defense was their main objective. Moms will do anything to protect themselves and their kids, but guns were not an option in their homes. If there were other options made available that were just as effective in disabling an attacker and non-lethal they wanted them.

"1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes.
College age women are 4 times more likely to be assaulted.
Every 2 minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted.
One aggravated assault occurs every 35 seconds."

Looking at these US National Statistics of crimes against women these friends knew they needed to make them available to their friends and other safety conscious women as well. Appreciating safety just as much as a great accessory, they set out and formed a line of safe and sassy products that women could feel fashionable carrying, as well as empowered.

These products quickly received an overwhelming response in Idaho, but being busy moms of little ones they knew that they could not get this necessary product to the rest of the country on their own. In October of 2011, Damsel in Defense signed up their first Independent Damsel Pro and set a goal of reaching 100 Damsel Pros nationwide over the next six months. By the 6 months mark Damsel in Defense had already welcomed over 500 Damsel Pros to their nationwide team and they have been growing since.

Co-founders Bethany Hughes and Mindy Lin