Legal disadvantage can also apply to the person defending themselves against an attacker. It all depends how much force you use to repel an attacker or what type of object you use to defend yourself with. One poster here mentioned pepper gel or pepper spray. I can tell you that here in Ontario, Canada it is illegal to use pepper spray for self-defence against a human attacker. You can legally purchase pepper spray and use it against a bear attack or dog attack but you can't use it against a human attacker and if you do then you are putting yourself at a legal disadvantage.