I work in a downtown area where there was a rash of muggings and flash mobs last summer. A lot of people at my work have to walk to and from work to get to public transit at night time or early morning.
I actually got worried enough about my female coworkers to hand out a cans of pepper spray + cs and teach them how to use it. They seemed really comfortable with the idea when I showed them the pink key-chain holsters and told them that what I was holding wasn't a weapon. I asked them do you think a skunk is dangerous? How much do you respect a skunk? If I had one here, how close would you want to be to it? Would you want to make it angry?
I told them they should think like a skunk. A skunk avoids trouble, if it sees you, it turns and keeps moving away but it keeps track of where you are. If you corner a skunk it goes from pacifist to intimidating, telling you to back the #@$%-off. If you don't take the warning, it uses its spray and doesn't stick around for another second. Be that skunk!
They all accepted one and were actually eager to learn how to use it.
I taught them how to protect their face, hold their breath, spray face + chest, toss the can, and run away. I explained how tossing the can made it hard to catch them and and use it against them, how even if they didn't get a perfect shot off, that running away would give the tear gas a chance to blur the vision and make it hard to give chase while choking and coughing. That having used it and escaped, they now had the responsibility to protect their sisters by calling the cops giving a description and letting them know they were covered in UV die.
They wanted me to bring more in, which I did.