Women’s Resource Center Offers R.A.D. Self-Defense Classes

By Carly Thomsen, Director of ASUA’s Women’s Resource Center

Oppression of women continues to exist throughout our world, and through recent events on our campus, we are reminded that sexual assault remains a major problem for young women. On April 12th, 2007 a woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger in the Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall on the UA campus. This incident immediately led to a frightened and angry buzz among women students, who many of whom no longer felt safe walking around campus. While the trauma of this type of assault should not be dismissed, stranger rapes are statistically rare, as most victims of sexual assault know their perpetrators. This means that while stranger-rapes elicit broad media coverage, most rapes go unreported—the perpetrators unpunished and the victims un-served. According to Mary Koss, a University of Arizona Regent Scholar and internationally renowned expert on sexual assault, 1 in every 4 college- aged women are raped. Although this study was conducted two decades ago, the numbers have sadly remained constant in almost all subsequent studies.

Clearly these issues do not stop at the border of our campus; in fact, the term “sexual terrorism” has been coined to describe the constant fear of rape, sexual assault, and even walking alone at night that many women experience. Because 25% of college-aged women are survivors of rape or attempted rate, almost all women have either been victimized, or know friends, sisters or classmates that have experienced this trauma. All women understand the culturally pervasive and constant threat of sexual assault, whether or not it has been individually experienced. This begins to explain one dimension of the disempowerment of women at a societal level. 

With a $5,000 grant from the UA Parents & Family Association, ASUA’s Women’s Resource Center is working to address safety on our campus. In addition to providing funding for much-needed advertising and a huge Take Back the Night rally, the Parents & Family Association is the sole financial sponsor for UA’s only R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) Self-Defense classes. The Women’s Resource Center, in conjunction with The Oasis Program and Ella Group, has implemented nationally certified Self-Defense Classes for UA students, faculty and staff. These free women-only classes provide a space for UA community members to learn self-defense techniques through methods that focus on awareness, prevention, risk-reduction and empowerment. Because R.A.D. is committed to continuous personal growth rather than a one-time workshop, participants can continue to attend these R.A.D. classes anywhere in the country free of charge for the remainder of their lives.

This program has been hugely successful at The University of Arizona. Over the course of four days, 25 women completed the 12 hour training. Most importantly, participants had a blast throughout the workshop and a few of these women have gotten actively involved with the Women’s Resource Center as a result of their positive experiences with this course! This project, possible only with the generous financial support of the UA Parents & Family Association, brought together two campus organizations with a community organization. This collaborative effort not only made the classes possible, but also worked to enhance UA and Tucson community partnerships.

This semester’s classes filled up extremely quickly, and more than 125 women are already on waiting lists for next semester’s classes. Considering this great need, the Women’s Resource Center plans to offer several Self-Defense classes in the spring. And by working with The Oasis Program and Ella Group, I have no doubt that the classes will continue to be fun-filled, educational, empowering and successful. Many thanks to the Parents and Family Association for your commitment to creating a safe and welcoming campus for women!

The Arizona Daily Wildcat covered the story on October 3.

Carly Thomsen can be contacted via email at cthomsen@email.arizona.edu.