In light of recent assaults in Southern California, women across the Southland are learning how to better protect themselves against random acts of violence.

There have been several high-profile attacks on women in the past weeks, including the vicious assaults of two females who were walking near the Venice Canals.

The acts of violence have prompted several SoCal women to take up self-defense lessons and remain vigilant when they’re in public.

One woman, identified only as Melissa, was attacked by a stranger who lives in her own neighborhood in October of last year. She says the incident motivated her to learn how to protect herself.

“She kicked my dog in the face, and then she started hitting me with open fists,” Melissa said to KTLA 5’s Jennifer McGraw. “Completely caught me off guard. I have to be concerned about my own safety.”

Dave Kerr teaches self-defense classes at his gym, FitSport Kinetics in Pasadena. He preaches to his students to always remain vigilant when walking alone, and learn the basics of how to react if they’re ever the victim of a random attack.

“You don’t want to be buried in your phone if you have earbuds and you can’t hear anything,” Kerr said. “So, one of the things we teach is simple practice of being aware of your surroundings.”

Jen Lester, who also goes by Stun Gun Jen, learned self-defense after hearing from a close friend that she had been raped twice in the previous four years. Lester worked for 12 years as a 911 dispatcher and wanted to use her experience to help teach women how to protect themselves.

“It’s incredibly alarming, it’s something we are seeing in our headlines constantly,” Lester said. “We’re seeing it just in social media posts all the time, there definitely seems to be an escalation.”

Lester adds you should have four essential items with you at all times to help you keep yourself as safe as possible in case you’re assaulted.

“I have my alarm with the GPS tracking, I have a stun device, I have a striking device for close contact strikes, and I have my pepper spray,” Lester said.

The self-defense expert says a lack of consequences for assailants is another reason why the public needs to learn how to protect itself.

“If we are the consequence, because we can’t get the consequences through our justice system, I believe that we see a little bit of decline,” Lester said. “But we have to start to learn to be the consequence ourself.”