Fight for your life

    In the past several months there have been 11 attacks in Northern Virginia towards women.  An AHS student was among the victims. These attacks have raised questions  about safety, more specifically for women, concerning how they can defend themselves.

    In America at least one woman is raped every two minutes.  Over the last two years more than 787,000 women were victims of rape or sexual assault.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Crime Victimization Survey and many other organizations that provide rape statistics, these are the haunting facts. Imagine being attacked by a complete stranger in a public area feeling helpless and not being able to call for help. This is a  horror that one in five American women will face within their lifetimes.

    Rape doesn’t only occur in areas outside of your home or with attackers who are completely unfamiliar to you; sometimes it happens when you least expect it. Domestic violence is the most common type of violence in the United States. Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by their partners in America each year. All around the world women in bad relationships have been beaten, forced into having sex and abused in many other ways by their husbands or boyfriends. It might happen for irrational reasons such as jealousy, temper problems, or as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Not only does this affect the victim, but some domestic violence attackers harass their wives or girlfriends even when they are pregnant.  Almost 324,000 women in the U.S. experience abuse from their partners during their pregnancies. This could cause women to undergo unhealthy habits throughout the pregnancy or even result in a miscarriage. 

    Even though these unfortunate events are bound to happen throughout the country, the magnitude of each situation can be decreased. Both women and men have the option of learning self-defense training to prevent themselves from being victims of rape or abuse. Self-defense gives consciousness, boldness, and verbal confrontation skills, along with physical guidance to respond to vicious attacks. 

    “I definitely think that self-defense is a good thing to know, just in case you are ever in a position where you are alone and might be attacked, it could end up saving your life,” said junior Samantha Wilkins. Although self-defense is not a guarantee, it can significantly increase the chances of a person surviving a sexual assault. “Even as a comfort thing, knowing self-defense will keep you prepared,” said Wilkins.
“I can’t think of a single reason why a woman shouldn’t take a self-defense class,” said junior Melissa Harmouche.  “Listening to the news lately has kind of spooked me. All of a sudden there have been a lot of dangerous incidents around here where young women could have used self-defense skills. I myself am not very worried because I have taken boxing classes for a long time which makes me feel more safe.” When asked what form of self defense she thought would be more helpful in the event of an attack, she said, “I think that boxing is a great method to use in real life situations. I just think it would be the fastest thing that would come to my mind and it’s more realistic to use.” 

    Most people believe that knowing how to defend themselves is a great advantage for women, but what about for men? 
“Of course self-defense would be a good skill for women to have, but we don’t hear much about men being attacked. Even though I can imagine situations where men could use self-defense, I  think  I could defend myself without formal training,” said sophomore Joey Stoll. That if I were in that position, I wouldn’t be like other guys who might think that using self-defense against a girl would be disrespectful, your safety is much more important than being courteous to that woman.”

    There are many forms of self-defense that people could use against their attackers. One type is called ju-jitsu, also known as yawara. Ju-jitsu is a martial art that originated in ancient Japan. It is an unarmed skill that focuses more on defending yourself and using it in times of need rather then just to fight. It is very similar to karate, or tae-kwon-do except for the fact that they originated from different countries and ju-jitsu is a lot like wrestling.
Another form of self-defense is an Israeli technique called Krav Maga. Krav Maga is the defense method used by the Israeli Defense Forces. It is usually taught to government agents, but it is also a very useful self-defense technique. It is a hand-to hand combat system that is not like traditional martial arts. It is designed to teach basic defense skills, based mostly on instinctive movements, in the shortest amount of time. It teaches to protect yourself from being choked, grabbed or even being attacked by various weapons.

    Wilkins added, “Whether it be an assault from a stranger, someone thought to be a friend, or even a family member, any type of physical attack is a crime, but it can be prevented, and self-defense can help.”