At CCASA, we have taken the time to ask around the web world about what people think about sexual violence. One of the questions in our survey was, "What, if any, tips would you suggest to prevent sexual assault?" Based on the results that were complied, we discovered a rather popular belief. "To prevent sexual assault, you should enroll yourself in a self defense class of some sort." This prevention suggestion didn't surprise me since it was, at one point, one of my own beliefs. I always thought that if I knew how to physically fight off an offender, then I would never have to worry about being assaulted because I would be prepared and skilled enough to defend myself.
After all of CCASA's education and information about sexual violence, I have learned that no matter how strong or skilled you are, sexual assault can still happen. This doesn't mean that taking a self defense course is wrong, but rather it's important to understand that an assault can still occur whether you are trained or not. It seems today there are more prevention tools than there are stereotypical clichés, but this self defense tool seems to be growing on an exponential rate. There are many variations of martial arts in the world; Judo, Boxing, Hapkido, Karate, Fencing... the list goes on. Although there is a new addition to the group; Woman's self defense. Yes, there are now classes where women go to learn how to defend themselves in confrontational situations and learn how to escape. But I have a question for you: Do you think these classes would help if you're assaulted by your best friend who's driving you home after work, or your brother's friend who is staying the night? These are situations where trust is already in place and a person's reaction to an assault can be unpredictable. You wouldn't expect a child to take self defense classes, because adults feel that it is their duty to protect the child; so why do we suggest that if a person doesn't want to be assaulted, they should learn self defense? Is it because they are adults and should hold the responsibility of their own protection, or is it because we hold a belief that self defense will ensure that our loved ones won't get hurt?
According to the Calgary Police Department approximately 76% of all reported sexual assault cases are done by someone the survivor knows. What does this mean? Most assaults are not executed by the "creep in the bushes" and these attacks do not always involve violence or physical conflict. So how can these prevention classes prepare someone if it isn't an encounter where punches and kicks are expected? It is important to know that sexual assault is an assault, but it's even more important to know that it can be an assault that doesn't involve brute force or fighting. This is why, as a society, we have to accept that every time we create a prevention technique, we are pushing the blame on the victims rather than the offenders.
I have another concern about this self defense mentality. How often do we actually encounter (in real life) these confrontational scenarios? Probably not a whole lot. When a person is placed in these situations, society believes in fight or flight. But what people don't consider is "freeze". Sometimes in threatening situations, a human's instinct is to freeze and not fight back. So does this mean that if someone is being sexually assaulted and doesn't physically fight back, this person is responsible for their attacker's actions and the assault itself? NO! Every person on this planet will handle situations in different ways, whether that be fighting back or freezing. It is important to remember that we have to keep the blame where it belongs; on the offender.
Again, I am not stating that self defense is bad (I do Muay Thai kickboxing myself and love it); just that if a person is assaulted, and whether they have self defense or not, we can never put the blame on the survivor. It is an offender's decision to act on this crime, so it's important to let them face the full force of the consequences.
-KB
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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There is a problem for women who exercise the right to to self defense. They risk being charged with assault. It happens frequently enough in "domestic violence" that women get criminal charges for defending themselves. In a case of sexual assault where the woman knows the person, the same can happen. While self defense is a right for men, Paradoxically, It is harder for a woman to claim self defense, perhaps because her action is, usually, against a man. (See what happened not so long ago to a group of lesbian women who were attacked on the street in front of witnesses. They were given heavy prison sentences for defending themselves). Canadian jails contain numerous women serving life sentences for being guilty of killing their batterers after the justice system let them down and would not protect them. (Judicial review recommendations from these cases have been of limited help to them). It makes self defense more theoretically useful than practically useful, and dangerous for women to practise.
ReplyDeleteMe again! Back with some references: At the Elizabeth Fry site is an article called: Justice for Battered Women -- Denied, Delayed ... Diminished - Jails are Not the Shelters Battered Women Need. It refers to the judicial review mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteThe other story I found a link to is this (I broke the link by removing the h) -ttp://www.workers.org/2007/us/nj4-0628.
Thank you for your comments, Sheila. I think it is important to recognize how focusing everybody but the offenders in acts of violence is counterproductive and, at times, dangerous. The only way for sexual violence not to happen is for abusers not to offend.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a fair and very real thought to take steps toward protecting our friends, children, and family members from experiencing sexual violence. The belief that self defense will prevent sexual assault is not reality. It can be scary to think that safety tips such as self defense classes, not walking alone at night, staying in groups cannot prevent sexual assault. We can begin to keep our loves ones safe by challenging the behaviours of offenders, talking about the issues of Sexual Violence, creating a safe environment for someone we care about to disclose sexual abuse or sexual assault. We can reduce the impact of sexual violence by removing guilt and blame from survivors and placing it on the individual who made the choice to harm another… the OFFENDER!
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