With the return of Ohio University’s student body comes an increase in reports of sexual assault.
Last semester, the Ohio University Police Department fielded eight reports of rape, some of which happened within 24 hours of each other. One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
OUPD officer Brandon King said the unfortunate truth is that the threat is real on college campuses.
“The thing that I try to stress is that bad things happen to good people,” King said. “You could be doing everything right and something can still happen to you.”
Though pepper spray and pocketknives exist for the purpose of warding off an attacker, sometimes the best weapon is yourself.
OUPD offers a six-week course called Rape Aggression Defense for female students to learn self-defense basics. Throughout the six sessions, students are taught to prepare for an attack both physically and mentally. Through scenario planning, it becomes easier for women to identify risky situations that might include dangerous people.
Rebekah and Carlos Mendez, owners of the Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, 1002 E. State St., believe the mental aspects of learning self-defense are incredibly important.
“Everybody thinks it is not going to happen to them,” Rebekah said. “Everybody who is physically assaulted or sexually assaulted or anything, they thought it would never happen to them, and it did.”
Together, Rebekah and Carlos teach the art of Brazilian jiujitsu, a modified version of the traditional Japanese form which focuses on strength and strategy rather than body size or weight. In many of their lessons — which last an hour to an hour and 15 minutes — students are instructed on how to get out of a hold similar to those often used by sexual offenders.
Self-defense is better to know and never need than to need it and not know it, Carlos said.
As a father, Carlos says teaching his daughter self-defense is a top priority.
“She needs to be safe even when I cannot be there for her,” he said.
Some students in the class have already experienced sexual assault. When they find themselves in a similar position or hold they faced before, Rebekah and Carlos are able to teach students how to find their way out.
“We teach them, ‘here’s how you’re going to get (the attacker) off you, and then here is how you’re going to break (the attacker’s) arm,’ ” Rebekah said.
The Relson Gracie Academy offers women’s jiujitsu and fundamentals of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for anyone who is willing to try it and learn the skill of self-defense.
Beyond learning this new skill, self-defense classes — and jiujitsu in particular — come with many added benefits. When a new member comes to the academy, Carlos takes before-and-after pictures of the student and compares them after a few weeks. The change is evident and clear, Carlos said. Many people come in feeling shy but leave confident and glowing after finding a new home on the mats.
“People think they’re going to come in here and get beat up. That’s not what we do,” Rebekah said. “We’re here to make people better.”
