I hear the argument all too often from women.
“Why should I have to learn how to defend myself? I’m not the problem. Men should have to take courses to learn to not rape.”
This makes me want to scream.
I agree with the concept that rape is a problem within men, but to not protect yourself from the issue is madness.
Well, I’ve got some news, that somehow we all know but that gets ignored when discussing self-defence for women. There is other violence out there that has nothing to do with sexual assault whatsoever.
Before anybody gets all pithy and defensive and wants to suggest that men get assaulted, too, and that women can be assaulters, let me start with a few stats that illustrate why it is a more significant issue for women as a group than for men.
Domestic assault happens to about 1/3 of women, and 1/4 of men. At the level of these statistics, it includes everything from a shove, slap, or push, up to life-threatening stuff. I’d say that’s pretty close to even. However, 1 women in 7 have been injured by an intimate partner, as opposed to 1 in 25 for men. Lots of people do stuff to their partner, but overwhelmingly it is women who are getting hurt.
1 woman in 4 has suffered severe physical abuse from a partner, such as beating, burning, or strangling.
But let’s leave domestic violence alone for a moment.
No need to quote statistics about how many women will be sexually assaulted, or even the more disturbing one about how high the percentage of men wandering around who have committed or attempted sexual assault is.
Let’s agree that the problem is huge. Let’s consider it like a disease of our society.
Also, let’s assume that there is a vaccine.
Is it smart to be vaccinated against violence? Perhaps?
Is it wise for a woman to learn how to defend herself in our society?
There is an argument that goes, “knowing self defence will only cause the attacker to target somebody else, so there is no net gain to society.”
Have you never heard of herd immunity?
Let’s say that in some city, say Seattle or Des Moines, there is a huge push by women to learn how to fight. I don’t mean one of those pitiful little weekend courses, but seriously learn to fight.
Let’s say that a ridiculously high percentage of the female population trains to a level of competence in the field of self-defence. For argument, let’s say 50% of the women do this.
Those training women will be living at a much lesser risk than than the 50% who carry on as before. However, I contend that there will be a “herd immunity” effect that will also lessen the risk to the non-training women.
If a rapist faces a 50% chance that his intended victim will fight back hard, some will be hesitant to try. This won’t work in every case. Most assaults upon women, sexual or otherwise, are committed by persons known to the victim. Such a creep would probably know if their intended victim has trained to be able to resist. This protective deterrent effect would only help for victims unknown to the attacker.
Another protective deterrent would be effect regarding attacks by persons known to the potential victim. Will the perp be willing to attack a wife, daughter, of friend if he knows she is not only physically trained, but a hardened target in other ways. Women who refuse to be victims are much more likely to report such offences even if unable to prevent them.
A society consisting 50% of trained, female self-defencers would be a very different kind of place for women to live in than what we currently have.
Of course, a higher rate of training would be even better. Even a much lower rate, while less effective would still be better than nothing.
Now don’t go saying that women can’t really fight back against a man, so it’s all stupid anyhow.
There was recent 4 year study, involving 893 university women. Half were given brochures on the subject, and the other half attended a 12 hour “resistance” program.
The women were interviewed one year after their introduction to the program about non-consensual sexual contact, and 184 of the untrained women reported that it had happened to them. In the trained group the figure was lower, at 121 (a reduction of 34%).
40 of the untrained experienced attempted but unsuccessful rape as opposed to 15 of the trained women (a reduction of 62%). The numbers for rape itself were that it was reported by 42 untrained women, and by 23 in the trained group (a reduction of 45%).
Please keep in mind that the training only involved a 12 hour course, which isn’t enough to turn anybody into a fighting expert. It is enough, however, to change how somebody responds to a risky situation, preventing escalation, and greatly reinforcing self-confidence.
I hope you are also shocked that of the 893 women in the study, 305 experienced some form of non-consensual sexual contact within one year, and that 65 of them were raped.
Even in the trained group of about 450 women, that works out to a percentage risk of 26% of non-consensual sexual contact within one year, and a 5% chance of being raped.
I contend that anybody facing these kind of risks should be willing to do whatever it takes to improve the odds. They should take some kind of training, even if it’s only a short program. The more comprehensive the training, the better the outcome will be.
Gracie University has perhaps the most comprehensive program designed specifically for these types of risks. They call it Women Empowered. Completing the entire program involves 68 hours of instruction, typically spread over 8 or 9 months.
I know women who start with something like this, or some other similar program, and find that they enjoy the physical training much more than any kind of dance class or even yoga. They choose to continue training in martial arts far beyond their original goal of picking up a few skills. They are not invulnerable, but they are certainly able to better defend themselves than anybody who does not train, regardless of gender.
Am I blaming the victim? I certainly don’t think so.
Right now I am in California, and there are no laws here requiring bicycle helmets for adults. I know all about proper bicycle safety. If I get deliberately run over by some maniac while I’m riding a bike, and suffer a concussion, would it not be fair to suggest that it would have been wise to have been wearing a helmet? Certainly, it was totally the fault of the criminal driver who ran me down, but that doesn’t make it any less true that a helmet would have been a good thing.
Also, it could well have been that the helmet would have done no good at all in my case, but if everybody wore them it would lessen the injury rate for bike riders.
Self-defence training is likewise good for women, and certainly more desperately needed.
