Fight, flight or freeze. They are all natural responses to a threatening situation, but one self defence expert says the best way to protect yourself is to simply think about what you might do.
“Your main weapon is your brain. Everything else is a tool, so if your brain is prepared under stress, you’ll be able to use your tools properly,” said Police Judo Co-Founder Al Arsenault.
Metro Vancouver has seen numerous random sexual assaults on women this year. The latest incident happened on Napier Street in Vancouver on June 19. A woman was attacked from behind and sexually assaulted. Police describe the suspect as a large Caucasian man with a red beard and receding hairline.
Statistics show that about one in four Canadian women will be the victim of a sexual assault and an estimated 80 per cent of those attacks are committed by someone the victim knows.
While random attacks are not common, only six per cent of all sexual assaults are being reported to police, so the true figures are unclear.
“It matters very much that women know they are not responsible for sexual assault that learning self defence does not mean a sexual assault isn’t going to happen,” said Angela Marie MacDougall, the Executive Director of the Battered Women’s Support Services in Vancouver.
While MacDougall herself believes in the benefits of learning self defence she adds, “what we absolutely need to do is spend more time teaching boys not to use sexual violence.”
That message is echoed by self defence instructors like Arsenault — but he adds that many women feel empowered and more confident after learning some self defence techniques.
Comments