[quote=Sun Tzu][i]"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."[/i][/quote]
When speaking to "protection", the first of the most important "Ds" is [i]deterrence[/i], [@Dynamo Frokane]. If you can deter a threat just by appearing intimidating or dangerous, you have already achieved as much, if not more, than you might well have had if you engaged in a conflict with those people. This is a culmination of factors, varying from one's height, build, dress, sex, among others such as being obviously armed or not. A meek, short man or woman is going to be reliably a more easily perceived target than if they were tall and slightly gangly. There is a large amount of psychology that goes into this that it provides not only an unconscious "safety net" that comes with height, but confidence too. It in itself will never save your life, but it is a factor, particularly if one is aware how to use reach, height, and mass as a weapon, but I digress... tall females, apparently less "desirable" just as short males are, not just biologically either.