A group of women got a lesson in how to take their safety in their own hands thanks to a "rad" class from the Lima Police Department.
The department hosted a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, hoping to show women that they do not need to be stronger than their attacker in order to overpower them.
"The most important thing is anybody can do it, absolutely anybody," said Patrolman Eric Mericle, the North End Community-Oriented Police Officer. "It's basically to teach you to get away from your attacker. In the instance of an attack, we want people to be able to take care of themselves. That way, they can get away from their attacker and survive. The moves are very simple and it's something that anyone can learn. We teach people ranging from 14 years old up to 80 years old."
They teach striking and blocking as well as how to get out of whatever hold the attacker has them in. For the women attending, these basic skills are valuable tools to keep in their belt should they find themselves in a dangerous situation.
"I think sometimes as women we don't take the time to think about these things and if you're in this type of situation, what would you do," said Angela Woodruff of Wapakoneta, who brought her daughter and some friends to the program. "I think the skills they're teaching us are very valuable things that are easy to learn, especially for my daughter. She's 13 and going into high school next year and I just want her to have these tools."
Woodruff's daughter, Reyna, had not considered taking a self-defense class before but would encourage other girls her age to give it a go.
"You always hear people talking about how nobody's really safe and I thought that it'd be a good idea," said Reyna. "Now that I'm here, it's made me think about how much that I did to know this stuff in case I ever need to. I know that this will make me feel a lot safer going out and doing things than if I hadn't known this."
The LPD is open to holding more RAD classes for other groups and businesses in the future. For more information on that, reach out to one of their community-oriented police officers.
