Rape Aggression Defense Training

August 2, 2012

By Lance Cpl. John Wilkes , Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

MCAS BEAUFORT — Marine Corps Commu­nity Services graduated the sixth Rape Aggres­sion Defense training class, July 24.

Sexual assault is one of the fastest rising violent crimes in America. It can be verbal, visual, or any­thing that forces a person to join in unwanted sexu­al contact or attention.

“The Rape Aggression Defense training class began aboard the Air Sta­tion approximately two and a half years ago,” said Kathy Williams, MCCS health promotion coordi­nator. “It has been a great success so far.”

The training takes 12 hours. This iteration was broken down into four separate three-hour ses­sions.

Day one of training con­sists of mostly classroom preparation. Awareness and knowledge are very important in avoiding and preventing sexual as­sault.

For the remaining three days, students be­gin physical training and practice defending them­selves in mock sexual as­sault situations.

“Students learn kicks, strikes and techniques, so they are better prepared to defend themselves if necessary,” said Wil­liams.

In 2008, according to the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, 57 per­cent of the sexual assaults against females were committed by an offender they knew and one in five sexual assaults against fe­males was committed by an intimate partner.

“Rape Aggression De­fense training is a great step toward helping peo­ple defend themselves and serves to give people the tools and knowledge to avoid bad situations,” said Williams.

The Justice Depart­ment’s 2006 National Violence Against Women Survey found that nearly 18 million women and three million men had ex­perienced at least one in­cident of sexual assault.

“The training was great,” said Tyteisha Hol­mes, Exceptional Family Member Program train­ing and outreach special­ist. “I learned a lot and loved it.

I would definitely rec­ommend it to everyone.”