All women live with a certain level of risk of violent crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that a woman 21 years old has a 1-in-4 chance of experiencing a violent crime in her lifetime.
In Athens, Ohio University Police Department offers a program of realistic self-defense skills and tactics, the Rape Aggression Defense system, or RAD. The comprehensive class for women focuses on awareness
prevention risk reduction and avoidance while certified instructors teach women techniques against all types of assaults.
You can sign up for a RAD class at the Ping Center
said Mark Matthews, assistant chief of police. The class runs from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. For students and Ping Center members the program costs $25. For OU faculty and staff, the cost is $61.
The instructors teach basic self defense for women and how they can get away from certain situations
Matthews said.
Any time you can do something for safety it's a good thing. It does help.
Matthews said most assaults involve acquaintances or intimates.
We've been lucky that we haven't had a tremendous amount of stranger attacks on this campus
he said. The unfortunate thing is that in almost all cases alcohol plays a big factor.
Of those victimized by someone they know, two-thirds reported that alcohol had been a factor. By contrast, approximately 31 percent of violence by a stranger is alleged to be alcohol related.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, intimate violence is primarily a crime against women; women aged 16-24 experience the highest per capita rates of intimate violence (19.6 victimizations per 1,000 women).
When you are violated by someone that you trust
it is harsher
said author and activist Terri Jean, a survivor of intimate violence. That's the ultimate betrayal. That type of pain is just not physical and emotional
but a deep mental pain.
Jean was battered between the ages of 16 and 18 by her boyfriend. She then started working with battered women, especially Native American and Appalachian women, to help them empower themselves.
It's definitely something that I would like to do more of
she said. If you looked at me today
you would never know that I had my jaw broken considering that I am so strong today.
Matthews said a helpful organization in the area in dealing with intimate violence is the Sexual Assault Survivor Advocacy Program. I get a lot of information from the advocacy program and make sure we report all the numbers we need to report
