Violence Against Women: Part 2 of 2



  
 By Emily Kirby
 30 years of coaching martial arts and 100 of her own students—this is what helps Marcia Mason to walk with her confident, no-nonsense attitude.

A native and resident of Wisconsin, Mason has operated her own karate schools since 1982. She has also launched her own website—www.gurlfytrz.com, which features self-defense tips, books, weapons and even exercise attire for women.

“Women martial artists walk with confidence and emanate an air of ‘hey don’t mess even mess with me’,” Mason said. “Most attackers sense there is something dangerous about us and leave us alone.”

“We are still considered the weaker sex, and physically we are if you compare us to men, regarding strength and muscle mass,” she said. “So all women should learn how to defend themselves to get that edge.”

With the prevalence of violence against women growing on both a national and international level, more and more women are choosing to learn more effective ways to protect themselves.

Someone is sexually assaulted every two and a half minutes in the United States— nine out of ten are women, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Also, one in six American women have already been a victim of either rape or attempted rape.

“(Violence against women) is a great threat to women’s health, one that has been referred to by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a public health crisis,” said Melody Slashinski, Coordinator of Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention in the Health Center at the University of Georgia. “There are over five million incidents of relationship violence each year.”

Because of these statistics, many women are visiting local gyms and community centers to brush up on techniques to defend themselves in the case of a violent encounter.

“It is important for women (and men) to know how to physically protect themselves against an attack,” Slashinski said. “Women who take self-defense courses learn not only physical moves by which to ward off an attack, but they also learn how to be confident in their abilities to protect themselves.”

Most self-defense instructors and proponents encourage women to both physically and mentally prepare themselves for the chance of an attack. This “wholistic approach” will cover both physical strategies and psychological strategies that are especially useful for protection against an attack by an acquaintance.

Acquaintance rape is one of the most common attacks that women suffer. In fact, 80 percent of women who are assaulted know their attacker personally.

“Self-defense courses that are geared only towards protecting oneself from an unexpected attack by a stranger are missing an entire piece of personal protection,” Slashinski said.

In many cases, attacks can have a much greater toll on the psychological health of a woman, than on her physical health, Mason said. “You can always get over an injury, but to come back from personal trauma is tough.”

Self-defense also entails being aware of your environment and taking steps to avoid a dangerous situation, said Erin Smoak, a senior at the University of Georgia and student director of Safe Campuses Now— a non-profit student crime awareness organization at the University. “(You must) have enough confidence in yourself to ‘fight or flight’.”

Smoak was attacked on a blind date when she was a sophomore at the University of Georgia, and now uses her story to teach young girls that rape can happen to anyone and how to be prepared for such an incident.

Prevention and awareness are the most common tips offered to women who wish to protect themselves. Common sense safety tips can greatly reduce the chance of being attacked. Crime watches and news releases are particularly valuable sources for safety information and areas that women should avoid, especially when traveling alone.

Safe Campuses Now at the University of Georgia, in partnership with the University Police Department, offers free self-defense classes for individuals in Athens, Georgia. Many other community centers around the nation offer similar services to combat this growing epidemic of violence against women.

The Personal Safety department of the University of Georgia Police Department recommends a four-pronged approach to safety and prevention. First be alert of your area and surroundings. Be aware of people around you, the lighting and the environment. The second tip is to prevent placing yourself in a dangerous situation. Listening to news bulletins and safety guidelines can indicate a potentially dangerous area to avoid. Third, take precautions when you think you might be in a hazardous area. Flashlights, pepper spray and other self-defense items could be beneficial if you find yourself in a dangerous situation. Finally, the fourth tip is to be prepared in the case of a violent attack. “Wholistic” self-defense classes can help individuals to prepare themselves both physically and mentally for any situation that they may encounter.

These tips and more are offered by many community resource centers and can greatly decrease the probability of attack for any individual. Safe Campuses Now also offers safety advice in their online publications that address violence against women and relationship abuse.

“Women should take as many physical self-defense courses as they can,” Mason said. “Great instructors and programs educate the mind as much as the body.”

Mason, a 3rd degree black belt, hopes to soon add self-defense to her area of expertise and has been training specifically in self-defense martial arts for four years. She also wants to begin competing in the self-defense division of open sport karate tournaments in the near future.

“I have competed in the arts for a long time and had a personal journey through three marriages that would interest most anyone,” she said. “I have had to become hard as a rock, but still be soft— that is very trying at times.”