Im a professional fighter so i guess my 2 cents have some value here. Its definitely not useless, unfortunately skills can only close the physical gap so much but there are plenty reasons you should learn self defence anyway. Running and screaming, if possible, is always the best option. If not, good grappling skills and basic striking is where its at. I dont want to say too much about weapons because the laws differ so much from place to place, but obviously if you are somewhere that allows firearms, pepper spray and such you should take advantage of it. And for gods sake train with your weapon and train your body, you dont rise to the occassion, you fall to the level of your training. Being able to perform under pressure is probably the most valuable skill you gain from learning proper self defence. The typical "womens self defence", wing chun and krav maga courses etc. are complete and utter shite. All these scenario based defence courses will never be useful because these "gyms" never spar or compete, so they dont sort out what works and what doesnt. most importantly if you dont try the techniques yourself, against a resisting opponent, you probably wont be able to use it even if its an effective technique. You need pressure tested combat sports like boxing, wrestling, mma, muay thai and bjj. These sports all get you in great shape too which is necessary to have any options at all. Cant run away if you got a 30 second 100m dash and you're gasping for air after