The Lima Police Department decided to give area women the knowledge that they would need to get out of trouble in the event of an attack with the program R.A.D.: "It stands for Rape Aggression Defense, it teaches awareness of possible attackers, how to handle a possible attacker, we're teaching blocks, strikes, stances, defensive stances, we're doing knees, kicks, and ground moves to get up and get away from the attacker," said Eric Mericle with the Lima Police Department.
Those defensive moves are meant to help the victim get away, rather than fight back. With all of the defense moves that the women participating in the program learned, they say that they’re more confident in their ability to keep themselves safe.
"I felt like when I go away to college, it'll help me against being attacked," said Meaghan Hittle, a participant with R.A.D. "It makes me feel like no matter what, it'll help me get away faster and I can get to help."
"It's just about practicing, getting comfortable with it, I feel like I'm going to walk away with some really good techniques to feel a little bit more safe," said Micah Moore, who also was a participant.
For those who might be on the fence about learning defensive moves, these women say that R.A.D. might be the program that could save your life.
"Anybody, everybody should do it, it's just good techniques to be able to get into your brain and be able to put that into use if that time presents itself," Moore said.
The Lima Police Department is offering the program again in the near future; they will be posting updates on their social media pages. The program will continue to be free for women ages 14 and up.
