I just completed a proposal to teach self defense for teen women and their allies at a local agency. I'd love to share the meat of the proposal with you here. The statistics were gleaned from Erin Weed's Fight Back Productions and the Liz Claiborne Foundation's Love is Not Abuse.

If you are interested in bringing self defense training to the teen women in your life, contact me at (413) 527-8317 or email trainer@compassionateconditioning.com.

Teen Women Need Self Defense Training

Teen women are especially vulnerable to violence.

For example:

• 1 in 4 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years. (National College Women Sexual Victimization Study, Fisher 2000.)

• College age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other age groups. (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.)

• College females are 4 times more likely to be assaulted by someone they know than by a stranger. (National Crime Victimization Study 1995-2002.)

Teen women are at risk of sexual and relationship violence earlier than most parents realize. The Liz Claiborne Foundation has conducted extensive research into teens’ (including young teens’ or “tweens’”) experience of and risk for relationship violence.

Among their findings:

• 62% of tweens (age 11-14) who have been in a relationship say they know friends who have been verbally abused (called stupid, worthless, ugly, etc) by a boyfriend/girlfriend. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2008.)

• 1 in 3 teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)

• Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend had threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a break-up. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)

• 13% of teenage girls who said they have been in a relationship report being physically hurt or hit. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)

• 1 in 4 teenage girls who have been in relationships reveal they have been pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourse. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)

• 1 in 4 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years. (National College Women Sexual Victimization Study, Fisher 2000.)

• College age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other age groups. (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.)

• College females are 4 times more likely to be assaulted by someone they know than by a stranger. (National Crime Victimization Study 1995-2002.)

In the June 2, 2009 Huffington Post, self defense experts Ellen Snortland and Gavin de Becker exhorted parents of girls to make sure that their daughters are “physically literate” in the skills of self defense before they go off to college. These experts go so far as to suggest that to do any less, or to leave the safety of their daughters in the hands of campus security, is irresponsible parenting.

Snortland and de Becker wrote:

What if preparing for violence is just as responsible as acknowledging the possibility of a car accident or fire? When we use seatbelts, we are not inviting car accidents. We are simply being accountable for the possibility that car accidents happen. We have fire drills so we don't have to figure out what to do when the fire is happening. Drilling for violence actually makes one less of a target.

What is Self Defense?

Like Snortland and de Becker, I believe that young women deserve to be taught the skills that can reduce their risk of violence.

But what are these skills?

Physical techniques that can be used in an attack situation are part of the equation. These techniques are simple, effective and do not require previous martial arts or athletic skill. They include blocks, grab releases, strikes that can surprise or stun an attacker—buying time to get away, for example—and strikes that can cause significant damage to an attacker—as when life or well-being is in grave danger.

Self defense also includes assertiveness training, de-escalation skills and verbal strategies. It includes facing the uncomfortable reality that violence is present throughout our culture and will likely touch us all. Young women—and their parents—need to understand the specific risks to young women, such as the signs of relationship violence and connections between alcohol use and sexual assault. Teen women need an opportunity to practice being assertive and being physically powerful.

I often organize this broad curriculum around this mnemonic:

The Five Fingers of Self Defense

1. Use your mind: breathe, think, strategize, avoid.

2. Use your voice: strong voice and body language, boundary setting, general assertiveness training, yelling.

3. Create distance: create distance between yourself and an attacker, run away!

4. Fight back if you have to and with appropriate force: physical techniques to respond to grabs, chokes, blows, and attacks with weapons.

5. Tell someone you trust: know the resources in your community to support those healing from assault; how to be a trusted ally when a friend is attacked.

The ability to protect oneself from danger is a right, not a priviledge. If you are not near me, visit the National Women's Martial Arts Federation to locate a self defense expert in your area.