Women’s Self Defense/Rape Prevention Course: Soliciting Feminist Input

Potential trigger warning: This post asks for reader input on practical self defense; as such the post and subsequent comments could be triggering for some readers.

I run a martial arts studio in a college town in the south.  The instructor who previously headed up our quarterly women’s self defense course (a wonderful and inspirational 70 year old woman) recently had to relocate out of state.  This has left me and my wife in the position of restructuring and implementing a new program.

I have a great deal of experience in teaching self defense and in running women’s self defense courses, however all of this experience dates back to a time before I became fully invested in feminist philosophy.  The classes that I have taught in the past have focused extensively on addressing stranger rape and violent assault, and while I believe that that approach has both validity and importance (particularly in that going through such courses seems to be an empowering experience for most women), I feel that it is lacking in practicality since it essentially ignores the fact that most sexual assaults are more likely to be coercive rather than overtly violent.  In short, knowing how to blow out an attacker’s knee with a side kick is likely to be very valuable in the rare instance of being attacked on the street by a serial rapist, but is unlikely to be of much use in the more likely instance of a pushy boyfriend  who continues to pressure his date to engage in unwanted activity.

So, I would like some advice and insight into what people think should go into a feminist self-defense course in order to make it as useful and empowering as possible for the participants.  Any and all ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome.  Before we go any further though, I should note that while I absolutely understand and agree with the fact that rape prevention should be targeted at the men who rape, and that the onus should not be on women, that isn’t really what this post is about.  Until we can accomplish the goal of dismantling the societal structures that teach men that is alright to rape, there will still, in my opinion, be a need for teaching self defense.

Just so everyone has an understanding of the structure of the course, here is some basic information:

• The course will run for five or six weeks, and will meet once a week for approximately one and a half to two hours.  This means that we have a very limited amount of time (nine to twelve hours total).
• The course is non-profit.  We charge a nominal fee that goes to cover equipment and handouts; all remaining money goes to a local women’s shelter.
• While I will be involved with the course, it will be taught by my wife.  We feel that it is important that the participants see a woman in charge of the class, successfully demonstrating the techniques being taught.
• While the class has always focused heavily on situational awareness and problem avoidance as a primary precept, we have always been careful to point out that we are not telling women to curtail their activities or movements, but rather to recognize potentially dangerous situations, and to be more vigilant at those times.

My real questions for the community are as follows:

• For those of you who have taken self defense and rape prevention courses, what were your experiences?  What did you like and dislike, and what would you have changed about the course?  Were there things that weren’t discussed that you felt should have been?
• How much time should we spend addressing broader issues of acquaintance rape and coercive sexual assault versus stranger rape?  In what way should a self defense course such broader issues?  Are there other issues that you feel are equally important to address?
• Is there anything else that I’m missing while considering this subject?  I know that as an experienced martial artist I am competent and qualified to develop self defense curriculum, but I also recognize my privilege as a man who has never suffered sexual assault, and I know it would be easy for me to overlook many nuances on the topic.
• Finally (and I understand that this is a potentially upsetting topic for some people), are there any specific self defense scenarios that you feel should be addressed in a self defense course?  We cover a variety of different potential attacks (grabs, chokes, attacks from behind, attacker on top and so forth), but I want to be certain that we aren’t overlooking any likely or common situations.

Thanks in advance for your help with this.