From which planet is Amanda Marcotte? Idealistic but not realistic. You could argue the same way for any crime not just rape. I shouldn't have to lock my doors either if I don't want to but I do because I don't want to come home to find my TV and computer gone. There is a certain degree of having to be responsible if you want to be safe. Unfortunately, it is what it is and ignoring it and not wanting to learn to protect yourself just because you don't want to is not a good way to go about being safe. Not all rape or other crime can be prevented but certain things do put you at a higher risk and once you are already in trouble just saying 'no' simply is not going to work and it is unrealistic to think that it should. This is exactly what puts women at an even higher risk making them think that just 'no' when the incident is already in progress is going to work.
Stopping violence is not just a matter of changing one thing. It has to be approached from every angle. Campuses can improve security (such as better training for security officers, CCD cameras), the police can get better at catching offenders, the courts can keep offenders off the street, society can work towards eliminating the seeds of violence (will take a while) and the people can be educated so that they know that violence against women (or men) is never OK. However NONE of that is in the control of the potential victim.The only things the potential victim of violence can control is what THEY do and that means that they need to be more aware, show some common sense, be confident and learn some self defence.
It is true that we need to focus on stopping violence and rape on a societal level - HOWEVER we need to keep in mind that we do not live in a utopian society. We live here on the planet Earth, in the real world, where no matter how much progress we make we will NEVER fully stop violence and rape. We can only reduce it. Here in the real world, if you don't want to be the victim then you can either play the odds or learn to protect yourself. When people say "I shouldn't NEED to defend myself against rape, it just shouldn't happen in the first place" they are really making two comments:
1. They are saying that rape is a problem, which is no surprise to anybody.
2. They are saying that they have no interest in taking responsibility for their own lives and safety and want somebody else to do it for them.
Again, this isn't a utopian society. I would LOVE to see us make huge strides as a society to reduce violence and rape in this country. We have some serious cultural and mental problems plaguing our society that need addressing. We can never fully fix the world, though. It isn't anybody else's responsibility to keep me safe so that I don't have to defend myself. It's my own, and I know that I don't get to pick whether or not I am randomly attacked by somebody on any given day. We can all only make those same choices. Play the odds and do nothing to properly prepare yourself for a violent attack or learn to defend yourself just in case.
The author of that article makes an effort to miss the point of martial arts. His point is that the most common rape on college campuses is date rape. The woman is too drunk to say no. And he is right.
To be a black belt, one must first master herself. Having self control means she stops drinking, before she gets too drunk and passes out. Date rape stopped, before it could ever happen. No hangover. No walk of shame. Self respect intact the next day. Exactly why my daughters are going into martial arts as soon as they are old enough.
In the author's excerpt of George Will, GW talks about the girl just putting out, so the horndog will let her sleep. And that is being rounded up to rape. The girl was being submissive, not a trait shared by many black belts... I hope. I would fully expect Nia Sanchez to grab him by the scrotum, and lead him to the door.
And against the unknown assailant? I'll give the black belt better odds of surviving the encounter intact.
I think as a society we need to be focusing on stopping the rapists and making this not just a part of life. We need to find a plan to make it more unlikely for such crimes to happen. Make the rapist the focus of our anti-rape plan not the victim.
With that said as a boyfriend I would like my girl to learn martial arts or having some kind of weapon and training. The crime shouldn't exist, but until that happens we can't just pretend that it doesn't happen and not safe guard against it.
So on a macro level focus on the rapist and on the micro level keep the potential victim safe until macro level starts working. And as long as we have to keep the micro level we will know as a society we are failing on the macro level.
Taekwondo and other martial arts are all well and good for rape prevention, but nothing takes the place of common sense and good judgment. Women need to be "more aware" of their surroundings and avoid certain areas at certain times of the night. They need to spend time in groups as much as possible also so that someone makes sure nobody "roofies" their drink.
To some extent men need to be concerned about their safety as well because men are victims of violent crime at a much higher rate than women are. It's just that women get raped at a much higher rate than men do. But men also get victimized. Men are 5 times more likely to be robbed than women and 10 times more likely to be murdered than women are, so again, common sense and good judgment are crucial to anyone's survival.
I am in favor of programs that boost women's confidence as long as they teach women to exercise an appropriate amount of caution and basic street smarts. Where I go to college, there are phones all over campus and students are encouraged to put the campus security phone number in their phone to call for an escort to their car or some other place on campus if they don't feel safe. I believe you should do everything in your power to reduce the odds of a violent encounter, rather than walking around with a false sense of confidence because you learned how to throw a punch, a kick, or a groin grab.
Self Defence is 95% Threat & Awareness evaluation/target hardening, 4% verbakl & physical de-escalation and 1% physical techniques.
Fighting is only a very last resort and a tiny percentage of SD, most rapes can be avoided with target hardening.
Any thoughts? http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/06/09/miss_usa_on_campus_sexual_assault_nia_sanchez_a_black_belt_in_tae_kwon_do.html
