Not talking about cases where you’re overpowered/worried about physical consequences or your assaulter has some kind of power over you. I’m talking about cases where someone is hitting you because they’re confident that, due to them being smaller and weaker, you won’t retaliate/people will side with them if you do

Annoying child who decided hitting people is their new favorite thing? Flick them (lightly)(may have to then deal with a crying child or angry parent, but worth it imo)

Woman who’s confident you’ll just stand there and accept getting hit due to the optics of hitting back? Flick her

Nobody really considers flicking to be a serious thing, but if you do it right it can still be pretty painful. And this way you can actually retaliate in situations where you aren’t comfortable actually hitting your assaulter. Far more satisfying than the more ethical route of just walking away, which lets them go on with their life with the knowledge that they can get away with hitting people. It’s also kind of a psychological win, because you’re not letting them get away with hitting you, you’re not hitting them back in a way that makes them the victim, and it’s kind of humiliating