The new marketing tactics make sense. New research to be presented at the American Society of Criminology’s annual meeting in November has found that women are more likely to enroll in classes if they are more sociable, comfortable and convenient. Leanne Brecklin, the study’s author and an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois-Springfield, discovered that women can also be lured by data showing how helpful self-defense skills can be — and have been. “Sharing women’s success stories demonstrates that fighting back is not only possible but also effective, and that might help recruit women who are reluctant to enroll,” Ms. Brecklin said.

So far, the marketing tactics seem to be working. Ms. Skvarla said instructors around the country had reported a flurry of new students and increased interest in the multitude of self-defense choices available. Ms. Skvarla offers self-defense-themed two-hour birthday parties (for which she charges $30 a guest) in addition to her Fight Night, and teaches a popular kickboxing class that gives women not only a good workout but also an arsenal of practical self-defense maneuvers.

Others are tailoring their courses to address special concerns for everyone from moms to runners to real estate agents (many of whom are female and can feel uneasy waiting for clients in empty houses). They are going into homes where groups of friends gather in a comfortable, warm setting; into the workplace to make instruction more convenient; and into colleges, where women often feel most vulnerable.

Jarrett Arthur, who has a black belt in Krav Maga, an Israeli form of self-defense, recently introduced an eight-week course in Los Angeles specifically for mothers. Called Mothers Against Malicious Acts, or MAMA, the program serves a woman’s need to protect her children as well as herself.

For years, Ms. Arthur has struggled to get women in the door, even though her classes for their children have been overflowing. They may have been interested, she said, but often put off making a commitment, citing other obligations. But extending the focus to protecting one’s children as well as oneself, while also targeting groups of networked mothers, seems to have helped. “These classes teach you how to be prepared and on guard, but I wouldn’t have done it if my friends hadn’t been doing it,” said Kathy Kantner 47, a social worker and MAMA graduate.