Kids & Family

Rape Defense Course at White Church Gives Women Defense Skills

A RAD (rape aggression defense) training course at the White Church shows how women can defend themselves against would-be rapists.

They kicked, they blocked, they punched, they elbowed, they whaled away at their aggressors.

Municipal and campus police officers, teachers and even a soccer mom did all of the above at a RAD – Rape Aggression Defense – training session for future instructors in the White Church fellowship hall Tuesday evening.

The aggressors were heavily padded, of course. Good thing.

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It was the second of three days of training, said Barrington police officer Dianne Pinto, a RAD instructor for eight years. Everyone learned some realistic self-defense tactics and techniques that can be used effectively to ward off rape attempts.

Because it was an instructor training session, men were taught the same techniques as the women.

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“They will have to teach them, so they have to know what they are,” said Pinto.

Although R.A.D. involves hands-on defense, it is not martial art. It is simply an aggressive physical defense system that helps women escape from rapists.

Approximately two-dozen would-be instructors learned how to defend themselves in three scenarios: walking through a parking lot, standing at an ATM machine, and sitting at a bus stop. They used the kicks and punches they were taught on Monday.

RAD training also is given each year for any woman who wants to know how to defend herself aggressively. Check the Barrington Police Department website for information on RAD classes, said Pinto.

See the video above to get a 60-second look at the techniques used by the instructors on aggressors.


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