By Laura Jean Null
Staff Writer
“Failure is impossible,” said Security Officer Tom Ferraro when discussing techniques for females to increase their chance of survival in an attack.
According to the 2017 article “The Truth About Statistics of Sexual Assault in College” by The Hunting Ground, one in five, or more, women are sexually assaulted while in college.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, otherwise known as RAINN, reports that all women are at risk for sexual violence, and women aged 18-24 on college campuses have an increased rate of being victims of sexual violence.
Currently, the prime time for sexual assaults to occur on a campus is between the first six weeks of college, all the way up to November.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center – Info & Stats for Journalists reports that “more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on campuses do not report the assault.”
According to the ESU Police Annual Clery Crime and Fire Statistics Publication 2015, in 2013 there were 2 reported offenses for rape, in 2014 there were 3 reported offenses and in 2015 there were 0.
Yet, 90 percent of assaults go unreported, which leads the University to take further actions.
To counter this extreme issue, the East Stroudsburg University’s Police Department are offering The Rape Aggression Defense System otherwise known as R.A.D.
“To develop and enhance the option of self-defense, so they may become viable considerations to the woman who is attacked,” is the objective statement for R.A.D.
When discussing the facts about campus assaults in the U.S. and prevention ideas, Ferraro stated the program “empowers women not to become victims.”
According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2005, in America, a woman is sexually assaulted every two minutes,
Thus, the R.A.D. system’s purpose is to teach women multiple techniques against the several types of assault. The solution is to create awareness, create prevention and be able to physically defend oneself.
This program will be held for three days, and participants must attend all the classes to complete the R.A.D. program.
The dates are Monday Sept. 25, Tuesday Sept. 26 and Wednesday Sept. 27. All classes will be held at ESU’s Innovation Center from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
This class is for female ESU students and faculty, and women ages 16 and up in the surrounding area.
The two certified instructors running the R.A.D. program will be Officer Carrasco and Security Officer Ferraro.
“The key is not to fight, it’s to escape, and I believe in this course,” said Ferraro.
The R.A.D. guidelines recommend that everyone should wear fitness clothing. For additional information, call University Police at 570-422-3064.
Email Laura at:
lnull@live.esu.edu
