Freshman Nikki Armstrong began taking self-defense classes as a way to feel more confident about protecting herself if she is attacked.
“I used to have my dad and my brother to protect me when I was home,” Armstrong said. “I just realized I have to protect myself now that I’m off on my own in case a situation comes up.”
Armstrong was one of the women who participated in yesterday’s Rape Aggression Defense Systems of Self Defense class sponsored by Fairfield. The women-only classes are geared towards teaching women self-defense tactics to protect them from male attackers.
Department of Public Safety officer and R.A.D. Instructor Charles Goodwin said the experience is “rewarding, especially being a father of two girls.” The classes are a way to empower women, which counteracts media’s portrayal of women as the victims in these cases, Goodwin explained.
When they first started, “A lot of women didn’t think they could do it,” Goodwin added, but by the end of the classes, the women felt “stronger than they thought they were.”
DPS Sergeant Rob Didato, also a R.A.D. instructor, explained that the classes began in 2005 after women expressed an interest in the annual one-hour classes that were offered during Crime Prevention month.
“There had been a need for a larger scale class that’s more aware of risk reductions than the previous classes we were offering,” Didato said. “There had been an interest in having more in-depth classes.”
However, men are not allowed to take the classes, or even be present during them, for fear that a potential male aggressor would take the class and learn how women defend themselves, according to Didato. “We want to prevent any possible attackers from taking these classes.
“If one of the attackers in the class did happen to be a woman, that would be an unfortunate occurrence,” Didato said. “I guess if a female attacker did take this class, we hope to educate her enough to change her ways.”
There are R.A.D. classes offered for men, children and senior citizens, according to R.A.D.’s website, but these are not yet offered at Fairfield.
According to Goodwin, only one officer is trained as a R.A.D. instructor for the men’s course, which is why a program geared towards men hasn’t yet been available.
The 16-hour course is offered at no cost to the participants and it expands over a period of four nights. It is first opened up to the uUiversity community and then to Fairfield’s community, Didato said, with classes being a mixture of both groups. Tuesday’s class could draw the most participants, with 27 women expected to show up.
“If 100 people sign up, we’ll make it work,” Didato added.
For women that were participating, the classes provided a safe environment to learn self-defense tactics that could be useful in the future.
Freshman Riham Majeed said, “If I am ever attacked, I just want to be confident that I can handle it somewhat.”
Freshman Maria Fedele finds it important to “know a few techniques to defend yourself because you never really know, especially when you’re all by yourself, things can just happen.”
According to Didato, none of the women in the classes have had to use the tactics in a real-life situation.
“I feel fortunate that nobody has called to say that they’ve had to use the tactics,” Didato said. “Even though it would be a happy ending to the story, I hope they never have to use them.”
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