In the past decade, awareness about women’s rights and their need to protect themselves has been steadily growing. The result of this is a greater number of workshops on violence against women and the prevention of that violence. The concern of our student body is also becoming evident as programs to benefit women are increasing. This past December, Panhel held a seminar entitled “Girls Fight Back.” This seminar was organized in order to educate women about how to protect themselves in our society. Protection isn’t just about the physical fighting back and self-defense, but also having knowledge about how to avoid dangerous situations. The leader of this seminar, Erin Weed, had a personal experience which made her start her crusade. This perspective made the message seem more important and more down to earth to those of us listening.
Erin gave simple approaches to try and increase a woman’s capacity to defend herself by preventing crime before it ever starts, recognizing a dangerous situation, and, if necessary, physically fighting back. Many of the tips were simple, such as getting a dog or an alarm to alert you to intruders or possible ways to get out early on. Erin also showed many of the moves she has been taught in different self-defense courses. She explained, using laws of physics (which seemed to appeal to the RPI mind) why certain moves work. She also emphasized the idea of being able to walk away from the crime, instead of having to flee. It was a concept few had thought about before. Just because you can run, doesn’t mean you are safe. It is only when the attacker cannot follow you that you are safe. She also went through different items that every woman has in their purse that can be used as a weapon, such as a hairbrush or a cell phone.
Yet there is a sense that women shouldn’t have to be on guard at all times—that violence towards women should not be a reality. This is the goal that advocates of another program, V-Day, would like to achieve. V-Day is a nation-wide program committed to stopping violence against women and is quickly gaining speed on many college campuses. The program here brought the Broadway play, The Vagina Monologues, as well as other awareness events to try and make women aware of the actual danger they may face. The hope is that by making more women aware of the dangers and more men aware of the consequences, women will not have to live in higher fear than men. V-day was officially on March 2, but just because it’s over doesn’t mean it’s too late to help. You can learn how to get involved in V-day by visiting the national V-day website at www.vday.org. So, try and learn a bit about how you can help to stop violence against women and join the growing trend of awareness about violent crime against women.
