Women learn to fight back

By YAEL GRAUER
BLUE JEAN ONLINE
Someone is being raped as you read this.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a woman is sexually assaulted somewhere in the United States every two minutes.
Hundreds of thousands of women are raped or assaulted every year. Half of all rape victims are under age 18. Teenagers between ages 16 and 19 are three and a half times more likely to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
Most of us have heard these statistics, or ones like them. We live in a society that has a problem: Some men think it's OK to be violent toward women.
Our society also teaches us from a young age that women are convenient targets for male aggression because they can't fight back. Well, that just isn't true.
I am standing in a line of a small group of courageous women. We have all decided that we need to say "NO!" No to a society that tells us we cannot defend ourselves, and no to a society that teaches us to be polite, to smile needlessly, to risk the threat of violence to avoid "making a scene."
We have decided that our safety is more important.
In the middle of the room is a highly trained female instructor who has taken us through a step-by-step process of developing self-defense skills.
What we learned
We have practiced setting verbal boundaries. We have learned how to assess danger. We have worked on various physical skills that will enable us to defend ourselves from a potential mugger or rapist. And now we prepare to face a mock assailant.
Because of his heavily padded armor and extensive training, we can deliver full-force strikes and kicks. We are called, one by one, to the simulation. We do not know how we will be attacked, but we are ready to defend ourselves.
From the sidelines, I watch these women whom I have met only a week ago. Each of us has been scared to death at times, many of us have been raped or assaulted in the past, and most of us came into the class feeling vulnerable.
I watch as, one by one, each woman uses the skills she has learned to successfully knock out the mugger. The four-session self-defense course I took, called Impact Self-Defense, builds on a woman's natural self-defense abilities: The power of our hips and legs, the ability to make good judgments, the ability to follow our instincts and emotions.
The class lasted only 24 hours, and few of the participants were in shape. Class members have ranged in age from 14 to 70. In a safe, supportive environment, we made tremendous progress. The class was incredible, as were the women in it.
But the impact (pun intended) the course has had on my life has been even more amazing. I am glad that I am able to walk alone at night when I need to.
Researchers have found that Impact Self-Defense graduates report increased ability to set boundaries, increased self-confidence, and greater freedom in their everyday lives.
The statistics on rape and assault are staggering, but self-defense classes like Impact are ending violence against women, 10 to 15 women at a time.
Call (800) 345-KICK for information on the Impact courses nearest you.
XYael Grauer, 21, of Waukegan, Ill., is a senior correspondent for Blue Jean Online. Read more articles and reviews by young women at http://www.bluejeanonline.com. Love to write? Enter the 2003 New Generation Media Fiction Awards for Teen Writers. Get the details at http://www.bluejeanonline.com/features/features_live/youcouldwin.htm.