There is a lot of talk about women’s self-defense on the Internet. To some, it seems useless, and someone believes that it is self-defense skills that can help at a decisive moment. Blogger Alexander Drusakov, a self-defense expert, also spoke about this.
Alexander commented on Jocelyn Hollander’s research on the effectiveness of self-defense in preventing sexual assault.
“The topic of abuse and the fight against it inevitably leads to conversations about ways to resist violence, including sexual violence. And as a result, people here are conditionally divided into three groups, ”
Views on women’s self-defense
- FIRST GROUP People who do not understand the topic of abuse and violence, who do not understand why this happens in modern society. This includes victimblamers and people who do not take off their white coats.
- SECOND GROUP People who share the views of the second wave of feminism. In their opinion, self-defense is necessary. These are: the ability to draw boundaries, to voice their desires and unwillingnesses, and in the case of harassment or an attempted rape, the use of physical skills to stop the aggressor.
- THIRD GROUP Those who share the views of the third wave of feminism. In their opinion, self-defense is not only about shifting the focus to the victim and subsequent victim-blaming, but also instilling a false sense of security. In addition, self-defence does not solve the root problem of violence – a social structure in which the man is the avatar of activity and conquest, and the woman is the avatar of passivity and submission. Simply put: “ Teach men not to rape, get away from the victims! »
“In my opinion, as an expert in self-defense, the ideas of the second and third waves should not interfere with each other, because they solve the same problem from different angles. The second wave is more about tactics and “right here and now”, and the third is about strategy and “later”. At the same time, self-defense also affects the strategic perspective, because each act of successful self-defense models the behavior of the aggressors in the long term, while the absence of resistance reinforces the “it’s possible” model.
— wrote the blogger.
It’s no secret to anyone – the blame for aggression lies solely with the aggressor and the society that has created a value system that allows such an attitude.
“We are for every woman to get more chances to live to a bright society with the least possible amount of traumatic experience. And self-defense classes directly affect this, because they work with violence before it happened (and in every sense, but more on that later). The focus of self-defense is on prevention,
– emphasizes Alexander Drusakov.
Why is self-defense left out of the fight against sexual violence for the third wave of feminism and many organizations that fight against sexual violence against women?
“To assess its effectiveness and to organize effective courses, people often lack expertise in the field of female self-defense AND AT THE SAME TIME, taking into account the specifics along with knowledge of social psychology”,
Alexander writes.
He also brings the theses that are often appealed against women’s self-defense and debunks them from the point of view of a self-defense expert.
Problems of women’s self-defense: myths and facts
What are the problems with the rhetoric against women’s self-defense and its usefulness in the fight against harassment and sexual violence? We quote Alexander Drusakov.
“Ineffective”
Many mistake women’s self-defense for the ability to fight with hands and feet, when this is only a narrow part, which is not always used and not in full. Those who do not understand the specifics do not take into account soft techniques, drawing boundaries, shouting, involving witnesses. But the main thing is to debunk the myth of female helplessness, on which absurd statements grow, such as the fact that a woman of the same height and weight as a man is 7 times weaker than him.
“Situational”
For some reason, everything came down to the fact that either self-defense should be universal and effective, like a lightning strike at an aggressor, directed by the power of thought, or it should be useless. The main idea is missing: self-defense is always about increasing chances, it is not a panacea. And yes, different techniques and strategies are suitable for each situation. Some are highly specialized, some are relatively universal. But even these work in 80% of cases, even with ideal long-term development. Why should we throw away a mobile phone if it is inconvenient for them to hammer in nails, and a hammer if it cannot access the Internet? Everything has its time and occasion.
“Victimblaming Again”
The third wave says that any promotion of self-defense is an attempt to shift responsibility to the victim. I didn’t go to work – it’s my own fault. As if it gives a man the idea that if a woman didn’t fight him off, then either she wanted to, or she didn’t learn how to fight well, and this is not his problem. The only problem is that for the rapist, the problem of the victim is never a problem.
“Self-Victimblaming”
Self-defense opponents say that a woman who learned self-defense but could not fight off her rapist will blame herself for what happened because she was confident in herself, but could not avoid trouble. This is refuted by empirical research (Bart & O’Brien, 1985; Rozee & Koss, 2001), and they say that rape victims who engage in self-defense, at least, blame themselves no more than those who do not, and often even less. This can be explained by the fact that when you do your best, you have nothing to regret.
“Women will not defend themselves from acquaintances”
For “their own” there are soft techniques that are quite effective. Plus recognition of situations that can result in violence. Soft techniques are psychologically easier to apply. There are studies that say that women trained in self-defense feel equally confident with strangers and acquaintances if they need to defend themselves.
“Self-defense does not solve the root problem”
In other words, it does not teach the rapist not to rape. But let’s think about what will teach an aggressive man who is ready to break through the boundaries of women sexually – a thoughtful article that rape is bad and that women suffer from it? Or is it still the loss of erection during harassment, fear from sharp commands, harsh actions, or even pain from a broken knee?
Hollander writes that for women in the self-defense group, the very number of unpleasant situations in which they found themselves decreased. Separately, it was noted that it remains to be investigated separately due to which particular factors this improvement occurs – non-verbal signals, increased self-confidence and self-confidence, avoidance and suppression of situations before they lead to unpleasant development, or all together.
