Knowing how to slip from an attacker's grasp and defending themselves can be a matter of life and death for homeless women in Houston.

At least three were murdered in downtown Houston last year, prompting a shelter to spend Saturday morning teaching these vulnerable women self-defense skills, as well as arming them with whistles and flashlights.

"I was enthusiastic about coming here because I knew that they were going to have some wonderful people who were going to show us some techniques on what to be aware of and how to protect yourself," said 56-year-old Sylvia Courville, who has been homeless since 2008 when she lost her job and Port Arthur home to Hurricane Rita.

"It's just a wonderful experience because it can save your life," she said.

Courville was one of 20 homeless woman participating in the women's safety workshop sponsored by The Beacon, a downtown shelter, and other community partners Saturday.

According to Beacon officials, the event was held in response to the murders of three homeless women in 2010. One of them, Carol Flood, was a client of The Beacon. Flood, 62, was found behind the YMCA building at 1600 Louisiana on Oct. 10, 2010.

Organizers wanted to protect those who are most easily preyed on.

"Imagine sleeping so vulnerable that you don't have anything to protect you. Everything you own is on your body, and you have to sleep," said Charly Weldon, executive director of The Beacon.

Most of the female clients at The Beacon were already in a delicate position before they lost their homes.

"A lot of the women are on the streets because they are leaving something that was unsafe. They were usually abused prior and so they are wanting to find a safe place," said Weldon. "They are here today because they are wanting to find a safer place."

Trainers from the Main Boxing Gym taught the women where to hit attackers and how to use their hair against them. More importantly, they wanted women to flee to public places and make themselves known. They were given flashlights and whistles to help.

"You have to let people know that you are there. That's when you're the easiest prey, when you're not checking out people," said Courville, who volunteered to show moves and lent advice to the other women.

Courville said she was almost attacked as part of a drug deal.

"It (attacks) can be anywhere," said Courville, who managed to escape because the assault was near where she was staying in Port Arthur.

The seminar was also held to motivate the women, "to have people value you as a person and to interact with people," said seminar organizer Chris Noble of Marnoble Computers.

"Think about how your life is and how you interact with people if you're homeless," said Noble.

Participants were grateful for the new skills.

One woman thanked Weldon and said that she wished she knew self defense before she was raped.

For most of these women, "they just want normalcy," said Weldon.

anna.gallegos@chron.com