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Empower Yourself with RAVES

Articles, Stories and Public  Safety Content

A message for grade 12's as they embark on schoolies.

11/10/2021

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To all my grade 12's....  You've almost done it... you are almost there.
BUT.  Life isn't just about your grades and what you are going to do next year.
All of this means nothing if your mental health and safety are jeopardised.

The biggest test in life is... wait for it.... life itself.

Let this old woman who has survived high school, uni, and a Police dormitory before even reaching 21 give you some advice for you and your friends about how to be safe as you embark into independent living situations with its inherent exposure to alcohol, drugs and sex famously paired with peer pressure, impaired environmental awareness and the characteristic teen  'c'est la vie' brain.
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What predators look for when you post photos of your children.

15/9/2021

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Posting seemingly innocent photos of your child or teen has a sinister outcome that you may never have considered.
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WARNING: 
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS ADULT CONCEPTS.  PLEASE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH AND DO NOT ENGAGE IF YOU ARE FEELING MENTALLY UNWELL.

Your child or teen could be a poster child for a pedophile ring - and you may never know.  Australia made world news in 2016 with a website trading explicit photos of local school girls.   The site even had pages dedicated to local Brisbane and Gold Coast high schools and fan pages - offering money to men who could find more explicit photos of their favourites.

Attempts to close down the site have been thwarted in a brazen disregard of the law.  And these girls, whose images have been used without consent, could be to this day, oblivious.

Police CANNOT ALWAYS LOCATE YOU if photos of your children have been found to be used in connection with pedophile rings.  Due to the ability to mask IP addresses and identities with overseas servers and false identities it is not always possible to link an identity to these photos.  There are even sites dedicated to teaching online predators how to cover their tracks.

A photo of your child could be part of a pedophilia ring that has been uncovered by Police, and you wont even know about it.

The Task Force I worked for busts pedophile rings - and makes arrests of pedophiles in our neighbourhood.  This article is an insight into what they do, and how close to your home they come to arrest offenders.


A pedophile or predator will not play fair, nor think like the average person.  They therefore look at images and their erotic 'potential' differently to how the average population does.

Here are some things that pedophiles may find attractive when looking at photos on social media:


  • The obvious stuff - like children in bathers, underwear, having a bath, or in a state of undress.   Even well placed emoticons covering your child's genitals can be photoshopped off and genitals photoshopped back on to increase the 'value' of the photo. You can take me to South Bank beach at Brisbane on any given day and I will be able to point out lone males taking photos of children.... your children.   And yes - Police do patrol this and regularly confiscate cameras and phones.  I have seen it happen meters away from parents and they are completely and utterly oblivious.  The Police do not have to approach the parents, because it is not an element of the offence to have a complainant.  Importantly, there is rarely time in these situations to locate and talk to the parents about what has just happened - Police are too busy dealing with the offender.
  • The less obvious stuff that predators find irresistible: like photos that they can alter to make your child or teen look they are part of a sexual act.   These photos can be altered to have a male person in the photo in a state of arousal.  Or they can simply overlay a lewd comment so that the photo becomes a pedophile photo 'meme'.
  • Children of social media celebrities.  The more photos posted, and the more coverage the images gain, the more likely they are to come to the attention to pedophile groups and be subjected to their monstrous conversations and attentions.  Similar to a teenage crush of a pop star, these photos become a platform for imaginings, fantasies and lewd behaviours.  The internet has now allowed predators to openly discuss their fetishes, and because they have the support of their monstrous tribe, they now have a place to 'normalise' and 'strategise' dysfunctional thoughts and fantasies.

Things to consider when posting photos of your children:

  • Is there enough room to 'superimpose' another figure into the image?*
  • Are they in a state of undress (even with emoticons placed modestly - these can be removed and body parts can be photo shopped in).
  • Do you have a public social media page?  Pedophiles can develop 'child crushes' and the child does not have to be posed or in a state of undress for the photo to become a commodity.​

Things to be considered with your teens social media images:

  • Duck faces and posed photos are used as baseline trading images on predator sites.
  • Swimwear and underwear shots become more valuable.
  • If their account is public then the predator 'ring' can approach friends (or enemies) of the teen and pay money for more explicit photos.

*  I used to pray that when I saw a photo of a baby in a nappy and a sexually aroused man in the image that the image was 'superimposed'.  I didn't always receive this comfort from the government classifier or the photographic specialists.   This is is the horrific reality of child sex crimes and trafficking in the 21st century.  There is one photo in particular that I remember which causes me pain daily - a 6 month old in just a nappy with the most innocent smile laying on a bed - and a naked man entering the babies bedroom.   This child looked like my babies - your babies.  And the horror that I could not  save that child scratches at my brain. 

It has taken over a decade for me to write this post... There was a time when I would physical hit my head and moan to stop the memories - but I hope that I have now developed better coping strategies. I have a practice of offering it 'up, or surrender. I take the time to do a short meditation where I hand the image and the horror over.  Usually I hand it over to the Goddess Kali, who feasts on the depravity of men. She is glorious and terrifying. As am I. This then allows me to focus on the present. If it re-surfaces I repeat... repeat, repeat repeat - just like my rules of self defence. Because to succumb to the mental abyss of someone else's darkness is not an option for me - or for raising healthy children.

If you have been affected by this article please make an appointment with your Doctor and click in the attached link for more referral options to support you. Good on you! Personal responsiblity burns this dysfunction to the ground! I'm off to stoke the fire right now...

Click here for more information on what you may need to know when reporting sexual abuse.


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Empower yourself and your family with an online interactive self defence e-book. Because self defence isn't something that you had 'wished' you had learned.
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The concept of KISSING in self defence

13/8/2021

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The RAVES system of self defence has two pronged approach to self defence that considers the K.I.S.S. option.

K.I.S.S. could mean Keep It Simple Keep It Sweet (placation)
K.I.S.S. could mean Keep them In cloSe (pull them close, twist their neck).

For too long male dominated self defence has failed to consider the following options for woman in life threatening sexual assault scenarios:

1.  Doing nothing (at the time).  Often in domestic violence situations the option of doing nothing means that you survive the moment, to escape for a lifetime.  This is something mothers have instinctively done for human millennia to keep their children safe - often at the expense of their own safety.  But this option must not last forever.  The next option is to escape, and for family and friends and society to have a safe haven for them to escape too.

2. Placation.  Placation is the ancient art of foxing, and dare I say it - seduction.   Don't go all defence balls on me - you have to read this in its entirety.  Because it's hard to hear.  Just like rape, sodomy and degradation is hard to experience. 

Placation stops the fear centre (the amygdala) that inhibits a survivors creative thought process.  Bit hard to be creative when your life is being threatened right?  But placation is a skill that can be taught - it opens the brain from the fear centre to access the greater brain.  From here people can access the teaching that ALL OFFENDERS are operating from a psychotic brain.  A psychotic brain has daydreamed (like a film running in their head) about eliciting fear from a person and enjoys the adrenalin rush and reward hormones that result from acting out their imagined attack.

An offender is all about the fear.  It is never about the sex.  

Sex is a by product of the fear. In fact, if you have a look at the psychology of hard core sexual offenders you will see that the majority of them do not masterbate. This, according to human behavioural experts, would indicate that they are largely sexually dysfunctional.

Which is why I proudly (and unabashedly) teach early childhood educators about removing shame when talking about gender and sex - they can, quite literally, change a potential mass murderers genetic pre-determined tendencies toward psycotic behaviours with love and open minded teaching without judgement or attachment of guilt.

So... this is a little story that I use to reinforce the placation - or K.I.S.S principle - of self defence (names, facts, countries, and clown customers have been changed in order to reinforce the learning).*

A woman was closing up her dry cleaning shop for the day.  A man with a sawn-off shot gun enters.  The woman, in shock, believes he wants the takings of the day, but he instead demands sexual acts.  He forces the gun into her mouth.  The woman instinctively knows she is not going to survive this, and there is only one thing that she can control -  she will show him no fear.  She looks him in the eye and pretends like she is enjoying the depravity.   This action, in turn, derails the show-reel of madness in his head, deflates his aggression (literally), and results in him zipping up his pants and walking out of the shop.  Her remarkable resolve leaves him flaccid and her with enough evidence on her person to link him to 52 other victims buried statewide in remote desert locations.

*If you are like me and you gotta know real life stories then search survivor's: Rose Steward, Jennifer Asbenson, and Alison (first name only) the South African throat cut survivor.  Their stories are first hand accounts of the superhuman ability to survive.

So you may need to placate... but you can also Keep them In cloSe in order to use a fundamental rule of self defence.

Move in close to use momentum (not force) in order to TWIST a weak point (thumb, wrist, neck?) and effect escape.

Attackers often move to silence women... this is me and my version of lipless kissing.

Maybe you would move to kiss, then headbut.

But I always teach - you must go FULL OUT - or go back to your option of 'no action, at the moment'.  Because to go into this lightly, or with too much Princess Pansy Hands, could escalate an offenders already frenzied madness.

Unlike martial arts, your moves are not limited to your repetitive training, but they are unlimited due to the teaching methods to unlock your physical and mental potential.

This is the RAVES method.  Recognise, Assess, Vocalise, Escape and Survive.

Because if I can keep one woman safe, then my late night rants are worth it.

For more information on my personal protection and self defence courses
check out what is on.


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A Sexual Assault Guide for every phone, house, school, bedroom around the world

8/7/2021

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Find Out More
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The sexual violence your TEENS don't want you to know about...

28/10/2020

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When I finish a high school session on self defence, consent, and/or the anthropology of violence I get a line up of teens who want to talk to me about their experiences. They do not want to tell the parents, their teachers or school counsellors. They feel shame, guilt, embarrassment and they have no intention of reporting offences because of the implications of people knowing and the repercussions from offenders.

18+. I won't be holding back on language as I talk about adult concepts like sex, death and paedophilia using all the correct terminology in all of it's truthful raw humanness.
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Queensland now has Online Sexual Assault Reporting

31/8/2020

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Would it surprise you to know that I had a woman ask at the end of a RAVES Self Defence session how I felt about dealing...

Posted by Sweat Depot Fight Fitness on Sunday, August 30, 2020
Click Link Here
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Passive Aggression: triggers and tactics

20/5/2020

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I love to support your work environment with Safe Workplace Training and De-escalation Skills for the Workplace.  Contact Erin for live online sessions or face-to-face workplace training.
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Have you ever said, "I will kill the man that hurts my daughter?"  Called a sexual predator a 'Monster'?  Let's talk gender drivers.

15/5/2020

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What is it like to interview a child sex offender?

15/5/2020

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Project Empowerment: a chance for people to share authentic and heartfelt incidents in a video collaboration that could change the world

15/5/2020

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Project Empowerment is a personal project that Erin is embracing to collect stories from survivors about an incident that triggered their personal protection journey and how we can learn and heal from their experiences.  By uploading a short audio file (about 20 - 60 seconds) Erin will animate your story with sensitively selected animations to share your experience with our younger generations as we awaken them to others personal trauma and ways to overcome violence, inequality and dysfunctional relationships..  We can live in a world free from violence and sexual dysfunction.  Your words and lived experience could spark awareness in one child and change their life forever.  Wanna change the world together?

Contact Erin on the form below for more details.

    Project Empowerment Contact Form

    Your name is optional! Remember this is confidential.
    Your confidentiality is my top priority. Let me know if you would like to explain Project Empowerment further.
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    ERIN
    CASH

    Personal Protections Expert and Keynote Speaker.

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  • Home
  • What's on
  • RAVES for SCHOOLS
  • RAVES Safe Works Space
  • RAVES Articles
  • Ask me a question
  • Erin Cash - the founder of RAVES Self defence
  • RAVES Testimonials