I hope they chime in as well. Also, my skepticism was not with you, but the actual reality of the laws as enforced. 
Exactly. I fall and get pinned to the ground by one or two of them and I’m toast. They are mostly bigger than me, way more violent than me, twenty or more years younger than me. On the plus side, the punching I see there doesn’t seem too powerful, but with all those other factors and multiple assailants, you don’t want to bet on me in that bout. As soon as I try to attack one, I’m now the target for all of them. And, like you said, I might get knifed. I can only hope for some other passengers to get involved. Then I have a chance. I’m not going to risk that. Like I said, I have a family I have to get back to, and I can’t see my wife being happy about me getting involved there.
Unless you have secret super powers, you should call the police and not involve yourself directly other than by recording the event for use as evidence. If you do step in, you might make matters worse by amping up the violence and get yourself hurt or worse. You should only be a knight if you happen to be wearing a shining suit of armor.
I know. I got that. 
I saw a thing a while back in which advice was being given to women for defending themselves against a man, and what they advocated was taking him to the ground. They were of the opinion that a man tends to lose a lot of his advantage on the ground (assuming the woman in question knows what she is doing and can keep him from regaining an edge).
Maybe because women often have stronger legs than arms? But then it makes more sense for the woman to go to the ground & leave the assailant standing, which puts her out of reach of his arms, and gives her some good targets for kicks.
Er… going to ground also makes it a lot harder to run away quickly at the first opportunity, which I’ve always found to be an optimal strategy to avoid that sort of trouble.
I am not a profession fighter…
but I have a feeling this is horrible advice.
Most serious fights end up on the ground and, if you have even fought on the ground, you know it consumes a HUGE amount of energy and requires a staggering amount of stamina. The amount of ‘energy’ you put out on the ground HAS to be like 50 times more per unit of time. Also, weight becomes even more of an issue/advantage/disadvantage and women are usually outmassed.
There is a LOT of bad advice for women in this situation. For one thing, it’s very, very situational so optimum in one scenario is a bad idea in another. But one thing women need to do is learn to fight. Too many women have no idea how to react to an attack. It seems current options are a) hope a nearby man rescues you, b) run, or c) give up because you’re outmuscled. It’s perfectly possible to beat someone stronger with speed & skill.
I don’t believe that. I’m male, fairly pudgy and puny, and have known more than a few women who were a whole lot physically stronger than I am. If she’s as strong as you say she is, I really doubt that you could take her down so easily.
Even when it’s possible, it’s rarely the wise thing to do. Your best bet in nearly all situations is get away. That’s not possible in all cases, but it should be most people’s first option.
The idea behind the self-defense moves I’ve drilled into my wife and child are to use that speed and skill to make yourself an opportunity to get away. If you can distract an attacker even momentarily, then you have that chance.
That’s what was taught in the self-defense course I took with my daughter.
Some time afterward, we were watching a slasher movie, and when the killer fell down, I hollered to the girl on screen, “make sure he’s dead!” Daughter looked at me like I was crazy and said, “NO MOM, you’re supposed to run away!”
Why do you think that it’s any way appropriate to call me a liar?
He was only disagreeing with your opinion.
I’m not calling you a liar, I just don’t believe what you said, there. It sounds like an assumption.
What if she’s throwing closed-fist punches at your face? Biting you? You may be physically stronger, but what are you mentally prepared to do to counter a really violent streetfighting attack (as opposed to just winning a wrestling match)?
The bottom line is the physically strongest man is stronger than the strongest woman. There will be gray areas where there are some women who are stronger than some men.
This is not meant to denigrate women. There are plenty of physically strong women. It is just biology.
As an example the #1 female tennis player can’t beat the #200 (or #350) male tennis player. It’s been done:
Another event dubbed a “Battle of the Sexes” took place during the 1998 Australian Open[60] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world’s top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both. Braasch was described by one journalist as “a man whose training regime centered around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple of bottles of ice cold lager”.[61][60] The matches took place on court number 12 in Melbourne Park,[62] after Braasch had finished a round of golf and two shandies. He first took on Serena and after leading 5–0, beat her 6–1. Venus then walked on court and again Braasch was victorious, this time winning 6–2.[60] Braasch said afterwards, “500 and above, no chance”. He added that he had played like someone ranked 600th in order to keep the game “fun”[63] and that the big difference was that men can chase down shots much more easily and put spin on the ball that female players could not handle. The Williams sisters adjusted their claim to beating men outside the top 350.[60] - SOURCE
Sexual assualt requires immediate action.
Call 911 and at least yell or blow a whistle to attract public attention.
Sadly its a bad idea to get involved in arguments or fights. Punch out the bf and the woman may kick the crap out of the good Samaritan. She is defending her BF. Even if he did punch her in the mouth.
I do know how to fight in self-defense, and unfortunately have actually had to do so.
If you are able running away is often your best option to avoid trouble and/or injury.
“Beating someone stronger” is possible but not a foregone conclusion. If the “someone stronger” is a trained fighter you’re likely toast, and you just don’t know getting into most situations. That’s why one piece of advice is that if possible hitting the other person hard and fast and then running away good tactic when you can pull it off.
My concern is that I am getting older and slower.
^ This. The object is not to “win” the fight, it’s to get away to safety.