by Marlon Saucedo
In an attempt to create security within the campus, the University of Texas Police Department is offering free classes for all women through the Rape Aggression Defense, or “RAD” System.
“We’re not here to go toe to toe with somebody who is trying to abduct us or rape us; we’re here to get away and to make a witness-rich environment,” said Laura Davis, head instructor and a lieutenant of the UT Police Department.
The three-day RAD system course gives hands-on training, taught by certified instructors who are focused on bringing easy, yet effective self-defense techniques to women of all ages and capacities. The techniques attempt to develop awareness that prevents, avoids and deals with violent encounters.
“All the fundamental things they learn through this program, if they (women) can apply some of those things to a realistic scenario and become confident in those things, then they can be in an a lot better situation in the real world,” said instructor Josh Carmouche.
The RAD system program was started by Lawrence Nadeau in Virginia in 1989 and has since spread internationally, being taught in colleges, universities and municipal law agencies. The program arrived to UT in 2001.
“We encourage survivors of sexual assault to report the crimes. However, it is still very underreported for many reasons, such as, the survivor may feel re-victimized through the media and court system,” said Davis.
For example, between 2011 to 2013, only five prosecutable sexual assaults were reported to the UT Police Department, as opposed to UT’s 2014 Annual Security Report that recorded a total of 55 forcible sex offenses from 2011 to 2013. These are recorded occurrences, which faculty members offer to the report. The frequency of sexual assault occurrences has been increasing.
Journalism student Anna Daugherty attended the course and said that even though she feels secure in UT, she took the course in order to boost her self-confidence.
“I’m going traveling on my own for the first time, this summer, so I’m not really afraid but I just want to have that extra confidence going out there,” said Daugherty.
Davis said that the RAD System also offers classes for men that instead focuses on de-escalating situations caused by men’s “machismo,” giving attention to the negative portrayal of women by men in the media, “and how to rise above that and treat them (women) with a lot more respect than just personal property or objects.”
“We’ve taught it to people who are visually-impaired; we’ve taught it to people who are physically impaired,” said Davis. “Whether it be wheelchair bound or what, it’s got something for everybody.”
Marlon C.S. 