Ex-policewoman reveals:

How to protect yourself from thuggish people

Defensive techniques are part of this, but communication is much more important when it comes to de-escalating a situation.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

It's not just the incidents in recent months that show how important the issue of security has become. This is why more and more companies are relying on trained staff. But the right behavior must be learned. An ex-policewoman teaches how to get out of situations with aggressive people safely. Here are her tips.

Michaela Eisold-Pernthaller has been working in the security sector for 30 years. "I started with law, but that was too boring for me," she explains. When the police finally took on women at the beginning of 1991, it was clear to the 52-year-old that this was what she wanted to do. 15 years later, she moved into the private sector and has been training security personnel at the VSÖ - the Association of Austrian Security Companies - ever since, where she has been Managing Director since 2007.

5000 participants a year attend the de-escalation training courses alone, with the focus on security personnel, but also retail employees, train drivers and train attendants as well as hospital staff. And what are these courses like?