An Empowering Approach to Women's Self-Defense
Leona Heillig
Public Relations, Montreal Assault Prevention
Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Summary
The ACTION self-defense course empowers women
by teaching them a variety of simple, effective physical and
verbal strategies for regaining control of an assault situation.
Rather than being controlled by fear that limits their freedom,
women are taught skills to protect and assert themselves and
encouraged to take control of their choices and actively choose
where they walk and to whom they speak. The more choice of strategies
a woman has, the more likely she is to feel safe.
The ACTION program is particularly empowering
when contrasted with the traditional victim control approach
to women's assault prevention which limits women's freedom and
increases their fear by warning them to lock their doors and
to avoid going out alone especially in certain areas, dressing
in certain ways, talking to strangers... all rules based on
a mistaken belief that most assault is done by a stranger on
the street at night. In reality, the vast majority of assaults
on Canadian women are done by someone known to the victim either
in the home or workplace.
A key element of empowering self-defense is
teaching a woman to «retake control of the situation»
so that she can assert herself and fight back rather than struggle.
Strategies differ depending on the situation and include realistic
physical techniques targeting one's strength against an aggressor's
weakness or vulnerability. Physical, verbal and non-verbal strategies
help women to harness inner strength, take control of the situation,
and exercise the right to fight back.
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The
Montreal Assault Prevention Centre
The Montreal Assault Prevention Centre is a community
organization which offers assault prevention education to those most
vulnerable to violence: women, children, parents and school staff,
adolescents, people with disabilities, older people.
One of our main programs is the ACTION self-defense
course for women. This is a 15-hour course given to women of all ages
and abilities. It is not a martial art; it rather teaches simple,
effective physical and verbal strategies.
Victim Control: the traditional approach
to women's assault prevention
The Child Assault Prevention Project, in Columbus,
Ohio developed the following analysis.
In our society women are taught to avoid violence
by following certain rules which limit their lives, and which do not
effectively prevent their being assaulted, while increasing their
fear. Women are cautioned to lock their doors, avoid going out alone
at night, avoid walking or driving in certain areas, avoid dressing
in certain ways, hitchhiking and talking to strangers. This approach
to assault prevention is known as victim
control.
There are many limitations to this method of assault
prevention. Most women find it impossible to follow all the rules
all the time, and find that doing so severely limits their freedom.
The rules are based on myths about assault, chiefly a mistaken belief
that most assault is done by a stranger, on the street and at night.
It is known that the vast majority of assaults on Canadian women are
done by someone known to the victim, meaning that the home and the
workplace are more often scenes of assault than the street.
The victim control approach is not empowering. It
leads to increased fear, since a woman who is out at night will fear
assault without feeling capable of reacting effectively should she
be assaulted. It also leads to victim blaming, for the crime of being
outside or talking to the wrong person, or being dressed in a certain
way.
The strategies themselves are not disempowering,
but rather it is the presentation of a long list of rules or tips,
which many women find overwhelming and guilt inducing.
Empowering self-defense
A self-defense course can be an empowering
experience for women. An empowering self-defense course will provide
women with a variety of strategies to deal with aggressive situations,
so that women can choose one or several strategies in any given situation,
and so that they can feel that they are equipped to handle even the
most extreme situations which they can imagine happening to them.
It can encourage them to make choices in their lives, and provide
them with the means to carry out these choices safely. This allows
women to choose where they walk and to whom they speak, because they
are taught skills to protect themselves should they be assaulted.
An empowering self-defense course encourages women
to share their experiences, their 'success stories' and strategies,
thus breaking down isolation between women.
Empowerment made concrete: struggling vs.
fighting back
The concept of empowerment may also refer to
specific situations in which a woman feels uncomfortable or threatened.
An important element of self-defense for women is,
understanding the difference between struggling
and fighting back in aggressive
situations. The key to fighting back is to retake
control of the situation. The aggressor is trying to control
his victim, and fighting back effectively means taking control of
the situation. This can be done using many different techniques, depending
on the people involved and the particularities of the situation.
One example is using one's strength against the aggressor's
weakness, either by choosing to hit a vulnerable point on the aggressor's
body, or, in releasing from a hold, by using a strong part of one's
body against a weaker part of the aggressor's. Thus, it is not necessary
to be stronger than the aggressor in order to get away from him. The
idea of strength also refers to inner strength, or self-trust. Feeling
that we have the right to fight back and that we can do so effectively
is an important first step. The element of surprise (the aggressor
is expecting an easy victim) adds to the inner strength of the woman
and the psychological weakness of the aggressor.
There is also a difference in verbal responses, such
as begging and pleading (struggling) versus ordering the aggressor
to let go or to go away (fighting back). Successfully fighting back
means doing whatever is necessary in order to get to safety. This
can mean making a scene, running, asserting oneself verbally, using
eye contact, hitting the aggressor, waiting for an opportunity to
get away, and many other strategies.
The larger the choice of strategies a woman
has, the more likely she is to feel safe.
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Résumé
en français
Plenary
Session
