University Police offer a rape aggression defense system class, which began Monday, to give women the skills they need to feel empowered.
The class is instructed by Officers Don Cornwell and Charlie Haw. It will run for five weeks and meet from 6-9 p.m. every Monday at Blankenship Hall.
Cornwell has been teaching this class at Ohio State for six years. He said there is a difference between this class and other self defense courses.
“We let the women go against us at full force so that they can see that the skills we have taught them absolutely work,” Cornwell said. “It is the closest thing to a fight that will prepare them if they ever are attacked.”
This simulated fight is videotaped for each student so they can see what skills were used to get away from the officer.
“Often when someone is under a stressful situation you forget what techniques you used. We videotape the fight to show the women that under stress they will use the skills they’ve been taught without even thinking,” Cornwell said.
According to the University Police Records Department, there were 20 cases of assault and eight rape cases reported on campus in 2000. The Columbus Division of Police has received 111 reports of aggravated and other assaults and eight rape cases between January and March, 2001 in the university district.
Although these are large numbers, Haw said 78 percent of those attacked who resisted were able to escape unharmed.
Both Cornwell and Haw hope to give their students a sense of personal empowerment they can take with them for the rest of their lives. After a student has completed the class, they are allowed to come back and brush up on their skills at anytime free of charge.
“This class gives you a weapon that no one can take away from you. An attacker can take your mace, but they can never take away the skills you will learn in this class,” Cornwell said.
Audrey Krut, a freshman in special education, is taking the class to better prepare herself if anything should ever happen.
“I want to see if I can learn something new. I’ve never taken a self defense class before, and I want to see what I can do,” Krut said.
The course costs $30, which includes the five classes, a reference manual, videotape and lifetime re-training.
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