The DoVE Project is offering a self defense class this weekend for women and teens age 14 and older.
The class, called R.A.D. — short for Rape Aggression Defense System — is offered nationally and is frequently taught by members of law enforcement in their own communities, said DoVE’s Executive Director Betsey Archambault. It includes both an educational component, with instructors teaching about attacks and how to respond, and a physical portion, when students can fight back using their full force.
DoVE received a grant to train nine island instructors in the system, and when Archambault was working with them, she said she realized she was reluctant to use all of her strength, although the instructors were in protective gear. She knows she is not alone in that reaction.
“In 40 years, I had not had the opportunity to hit something with my full force,” she said. “Women and girls in our society are not socialized to hit things as hard as they can or to use their voice to protect themselves.”
In this class, they have the opportunity to do both.
Fighting back — physically and verbally — is important, she added, as many women get away from violent situations when they actively resist an assailant.
“Knowing that you have that within you is really good so you do not stand there paralyzed,” she said. “It can save you.”
Archambault noted she would like all women to be able to take the class.
“We should teach men not to attack,” she added, “but the flip side is we want all women to be able to protect themselves.”
Archambault said she brought the program to Vashon because she had heard about it through a sister domestic violence agency in another rural Washington community, which received positive feedback about it. After DoVE trained its instructors, the agency offered the class for the first time in August, and it was well received on Vashon as well. DoVE’s goal is to offer the class quarterly.
The class will run 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Chautauqua gym. The cost is $50 with scholarships available. For more information and to register, email tracy@ vashondoveproject.org.
