Posted by Scott on June 26th, 2007 — Posted in News
Stephanie Paterik recently wrote about Fight Like a Girl. I include an excerpt:
Fighting like a girl may be considered a weakness.
Phoenix business owner Cory Kahabka thinks it is the best thing a woman can do.
Kahabka, president and co-owner of Absotively, which helps merging companies integrate, is a fourth-degree black belt in karate and teaches martial arts on weekends.
For the past two years, he also has been teaching Fight Like a Girl, a rape escape class that is based on the inherent strengths and reactions of women.
“We teach them to use their strength, and their strongest muscles are in their legs,” he said. “So we teach them to lie on their back and use their legs in self-defense situations.”
Kahabka said that when he was first introduced to Fight Like a Girl by Phoenix resident Brad Parker, who developed the class, Kahabka thought it was counterintuitive to tell women to lie on their backs because that is the position a rapist would want them to be in.
“But a woman’s legs are her biggest weapon, and they are aimed right at the attacker,” he said.
Kahabka said that if an attacker sees that a woman is going to put up a fight, he is more likely to back off.
Read entire article by Stephanie Paterik.
I have not seen that method of self-defense in action. It seems dangerous to lie on one’s back to escape rape, but the class gets a lot of credit and praise, and so far I have never heard of an unhappy student.
Of course, I assume running away still works better when viable.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on June 25th, 2007 — Posted in Domestic Abuse
Today I want to highlight a type of abuse that people sometimes overlook - the abuse of elderly people.
Every year, an estimated 2.1 million elderly Americans suffer from physical abuse, psychological abuse, or other forms of abuse and neglect. Experts estimate that only 1 in 6 incidences of elder abuse get reported.
No matter their age, color, size, or gender, every human deserves basic respect and deserves to live a life free from abuse.
Collectively, we can help fight elder abuse by raising awareness and changing policies. Individually, we can take care of the elderly people closest to us and treat them with respect. For example, we can avoid sending our parents or grandparents to convalescent homes. Additionally, we can volunteer at hospitals and such to spend time with elderly people. Make sure to report any suspected incidences of abuse.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on June 24th, 2007 — Posted in Politics & Commentary
Neal Peirce recently wrote about the gathering storm of violent crime in the USA. I include an excerpt:
The Police Executive Research Forum sees a “gathering storm” of violent crime, a “tipping point” in many cities.
There’s something to this: The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report shows violent offenses up 1.3 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent rise in 2005. That’s the first significant jump in years, following the astonishing crime reductions of the 1990s that leveled off in the early 2000s.
Skeptics say that this may just be a blip, that it would take a decade of such reversals to get us back to the roaring crime rates of the 1980s and early ’90s.
But let’s assume the recent rise is serious. What’s happening? Lots of competing explanations get offered: Gang problems are growing in smaller cities. Gun laws are loose, and the politicos fear to stiffen them. Because we have the world’s highest incarceration rate, rising numbers of inmates are being released from prisons — far too of them few rehabilitated or able to land a job. The focus of America has shifted to homeland security — like a Cyclops who’s shifted his eye to watching airports and public buildings while giving short shrift to demonstrably effective community-oriented policing.
On top of all that, the federal government has cut back more than $2 billion in Justice Department law enforcement programs such as the Clinton-era COPS program, which helped local governments deploy an added 100,000 police officers.
Read entire article by Neal Peirce.
Neal Peirce suggests focusing on prevention rather than incarceration. Incarceration is both expensive and ineffective. Violent criminals come out of jail just as likely to hurt people, if not more likely. Additionally, the overcrowded jail system releases violent criminals due to a lack of room.
Let’s not overlook the waste of drug illegalization. If people did not get jailed for victimless crimes, then the jails would have enough room for the violent criminals. Additionally, we could focus our resources on violent criminals instead of wasting them on non-violent drug users. Did you know: 25% of U.S. inmates are non-violent drug offenders.
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Posted by Scott on June 23rd, 2007 — Posted in News
Imani Henry writes about how the racist court system 4 black lesbians to jail for simply defending themselves. I include an excerpt:
On June 14, four African-American women—Venice Brown (19), Terrain Dandridge (20), Patreese Johnson (20) and Renata Hill (24)—received sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 11 years in prison. None of them had previous criminal records. Two of them are parents of small children.
Their crime? Defending themselves from a physical attack by a man who held them down and choked them, ripped hair from their scalps, spat on them, and threatened to sexually assault them—all because they are lesbians.
The mere fact that any victim of a bigoted attack would be arrested, jailed and then convicted for self-defense is an outrage. But the length of prison time given further demonstrates the highly political nature of this case and just how racist, misogynistic, anti-gay, anti-youth and anti-worker the so-called U.S. justice system truly is.
Read entire article by Imani Henry.
I want to point out that the women used non-lethal self-defense, and that an all-white jury convicted them.
This story shocks me and disgust me so much that I want to keep my comments simple. I want everyone to have the right to self-defense, and of course that right extends to women, black people, and homosexuals.
Unfortunately, the current racist, prejudice, and classist government sends innocent black people, innocent gay people, and innocent poor people to jail, instead of stopping victimizers, such as rapists, murders, and thieves.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on June 21st, 2007 — Posted in Rape & Sexual Assault
iamrj recently posted that most men want to help end violence against women. I include an excerpt:
Most men are not only aware of the prevalence of violence against women, but they are also willing to help prevent it.
Such are key findings of a national survey conducted from April 23 to May 23, 2007, by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Verizon Wireless.
“There has been a sea of change in men’s attitudes toward domestic, dating and sexual violence, and especially in their willingness to take action to stop it,” said Esta Soler, president of the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
Read entire post by iamrj.
The post goes on to point out that, while men want to help end violence, men do not want to give up aggression and dominance.
The article also omits a reason I believe: I think a lot of men hesitate to take a stand against violence, because these men fear false accusations. While men agree that they do not want any innocent women to suffer, they also do not want innocent men to suffer. Sometimes in the heat of anti-rape movements, innocent men get persecuted by false accusations. To get men on board, the system needs to assure men that it will not persecute innocent men.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on June 20th, 2007 — Posted in News
Andrew Maykuth recently wrote about violent crime in Philadelphia. I include an excerpt:
Philadelphia had the highest murder rate among the nation’s 10 largest cities last year, and violent crime and property crime grew at a rate that exceeded the national average, according to FBI statistics released yesterday.
Philadelphia’s 406 murders last year represented a 7.7 percent increase over 2005. The 10 largest cities recorded an increase of 6.9 percent and nationwide the rate increased 0.3 percent, according to the FBI’s preliminary uniform crime report.
Among the top 10 cities, Philadelphia reported the highest violent-crime rate last year, up 5.9 percent. Nationwide, violent crime increased 1.3 percent last year over 2005, according to the FBI’s annual survey of 11,723 law enforcement agencies. Violent crime includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Read entire article by Andrew Maykuth.
I find myself frustrated by statistics such as these. Some places in the United States have murder rates worse than those in war-torn Iraq. The powers that be have so much money to waste on needless oil wars overseas, but refuse to stop the violence at home.
Personally, I say we stop paying taxes to this negligent government, corrupted by influence from mega-corporations and special interests. Let’s instead use our money and our resources to create non-governmental organizations that address our needs, namely the need to protect ourselves from violent victimization, such as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on June 19th, 2007 — Posted in Martial Arts
Dailypress.net recently published an article about the value of self-defense training. I include an excerpt:
Personal security is an important family issue that affects everyone in various settings — international, national, community, home, school and work, said Lynette Bunno, owner of Superior Martial Arts in Gladstone. Self-defense training is one of the few positive actions available to today’s families to improve personal security.
“Recent studies seem to support the value of self-defense training,” said Bunno. “In a 2003 survey for the Girl Scouts of the USA, 31 percent of girls between the ages of eight and 12 reported being afraid of being kidnapped.”
[…]
According to Bunno, individuals and families who learn self-defense techniques are simply better prepared to handle personal security. Improved physical and mental fitness, combined with proper technique, help children and women, especially, to remain calm and in control of potentially harmful situations.
Self-defense students also learn to be more aware of their surroundings. Children learn how to avoid bullies and abductions. Women learn how to turn their fear into power, so they are seldom victims. Men gain greater confidence and are better able to protect themselves and their families, in virtually any threatening situation.
Read entire article on dailypress.net.
Self-defense training does more than simply teach people how to violently fend off an attacker. The training also teaches people how to use confidence, assertiveness, and alertness to avoid dangerous situations in the first place.
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Posted by Scott on June 4th, 2007 — Posted in Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse victims often stay in their abusive relationships and violent homes because these victims feel they have no way out. If you suspect a person may suffer from domestic abuse, offer that person a way out. For example, if a woman friend of yours may get abused, offer to let her stay at your house. You don’t even have to tell her why, if she tends to get defensive when questioned. If you can’t personally provide the victim with a way out, show the victim where she/he can get help, such as domestic abuse shelters or hotlines.
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Posted by Scott on June 1st, 2007 — Posted in News
A county in Washington has started a two-week program that allows defendants the chance to come in and skip arrest. I include an excerpt from an article Sean Robinson wrote about it:
The choice is simple enough: Keep ducking the arrest warrant and hope nobody notices, or wander in from the wilderness and schedule a court date.
For the next two weeks, Pierce County will offer 687 domestic violence defendants a chance to get legal. No arrest at the scheduling counter, no automatic trip to jail. The warrant goes away.
The county calls the program Act Now. Its not amnesty far from it. The domestic violence charges wont be wiped away, but scheduling a court date and suspending an arrest warrant could open the door to court-ordered treatment instead of a bed behind bars upon conviction.
Were trying to give them a chance to take responsibility, District Court Judge Judy Jasprica said Wednesday. If we can get these people back on track doing whatever it is theyre supposed to be doing, that is our goal. The more we get these people stepping up, the better off the community is.
The warrants represent a five-year backlog at the District Court. There are 824 of them some defendants have more than one. The underlying cases cover a range of alleged domestic violence offenses, from assault and harassment to violating no-contact orders. The warrants typically followed failures to appear for scheduled court dates.
Read entire article by Sean Robinson.
I like the idea very much. Instead of just throwing the few we can catch in jail, we can offer them a mutually beneficial offer. If they voluntarily turn themselves in, they won’t get arrested and the court can send them to rehabilitation centers.
If we just send violent offenders to jail, when they get out they will just re-offend. Plus, we won’t catch all of them who already have warrants.
By offering to suspend arrest (at least until after court) if they turn themselves in, we can actually protect more innocent people. We can get many of these violent offenders into the court-assigned rehabilitation programs, rather than just try to get a few in temporary jail cells.
What do you think?
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