In the hands of an average size male assailant, a wide variety of common objects can become deadly weapons. Ball bats (or cricket bats over there, I guess), iron pipe, hammer, tire iron, butcher knife, chain, etc. etc. I remember a case where some low-life murdered his common law wife with a can of surplus government ham. . . . . (when canned hams are outlawed, only outlaws will have hams . . . ?)
My point was that an average male assailant does not need to be armed (with anything) in order to cause deadly harm to the average female victim.
The female victim, on the other hand, deserves to be armed with the most effective means of self defense - and that's not a canned ham.
I have 8+ years of martial arts training, but I'm grabbing the glock if I need to confront an intruder.