If you are robbed with by someone with a weapon, the best advice you can get is this: stay calm, make no sudden movements, and give them what they want. If they're just after whatever money and possessions you happen to have on you, it's not worth the risk of injury or death that comes with trying to defend yourself against an armed attacker. Yeah, you might lose your purse, cellphone, cash, etc., but that's not the worst thing in the world. You can buy new possessions, and cancel your credit cards. It might be humiliating, infuriating, scary, and inconvenient, but it's a hell of a lot better than being dead or seriously injured. Call the police ASAP - that seems like it should go without saying, but I've heard of people, after being robbed, calling their parents before they call the police. Not a good idea. Every second that the police aren't on the case increases the criminal's chances of getting away (though with a street mugging, their chances of getting away are already pretty high). As far as making yourself less vulnerable to crime, you should avoid walking through sparsely-populated areas at night. If you absolutely must, travel with at least one other person. Try to stick to well-lit areas. Most robberies are crimes of opportunity, and if you're in a group, a robber probably won't see you as an easy target. You might also consider carrying pepper spray for defense, but be very careful when deciding to use it. If it's clear that the assailant is just after property, you should probably just give them what they want. You should only resort to force if you have reason to believe that the assailant intends to hurt you, and you can't run away. In short, it should be used as a last resort. I'm not advising this out of sympathy for the criminal, but for the safety of the potential victim. Having been pepper sprayed myself (no, I wasn't trying to rob anyone - someone at a bar got sprayed with it, and a few seconds later, I walked right into a cloud of the stuff), I can say that it's very painful, but not instantly incapacitating. It might give you a brief window to escape, but if it doesn't, it could simply enrage your attacker, and turn what might have been a theft into something much, much worse.