MU Police Department is now accepting sign-ups for sessions of its Rape Aggression Defense class this year.
The free class, which is open to any woman affiliated with the university, is designed to educate students on travel safety, weapon use and other safety topics, according to the MUPD website.
R.A.D. classes typically last 12 hours. There will be multiple sessions held throughout the school year, and students can enroll online at the MUPD website.
The R.A.D. system is a national program founded in 1989 by former United States Marine Larry Nadeau. MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer said he started sending officers in his department to R.A.D. training courses 10 years ago so they could bring the class to campus.
“It’s a program that’s been asked for quite a bit from ladies in the area,” Weimer said.
Though most students are taught from a young age to stay away from strangers, the majority of sexual assaults and rapes are perpetrated by somebody the victim knows, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. Acquaintance rapes comprise approximately 66 percent of all rapes.
“It’s very rarely the stranger in the bushes that most people imagine,” Weimer said.
Freshman Hilary Mueller took a basic R.A.D. class during her junior year of high school. Her father works for the UM-Kansas City Police Department, and he encouraged her to enroll once he became certified to teach the class.
“He was really adamant about me taking it,” Mueller said. “He thought it was really important for me to know those basic skills.”
The R.A.D. class is usually broken up into three days. Students learn defense techniques the first two days, and day three is reserved for simulation, Mueller said.
“That’s when the instructors dress up in their fully padded suits, and the students wear their pads and you practice your skills,” Mueller said. “They basically act out some scenarios that could happen and you can apply what you know.”
Many women know the basics of personal safety, such as never traveling alone and sticking to well-lit areas at night, but the real techniques of the R.A.D. method are not supposed to be shared with others. Mueller said she received a “White Letter” when she started class.
“It’s a letter you give to your family, your husband, your boyfriend,” she said. “It basically says, ‘Don’t ask the students to show what they’re learning,’ because there’s supposed to be an element of surprise.”
Mueller said that knowing she would be living on such a large campus was a big motivating factor in her taking the R.A.D. course so early on.
Mueller said she knows she can protect herself if needed after taking the class.
“When you’re confident in your physical ability you think, ‘Yeah, I can do this,’ but some of it (R.A.D.) is techniques that you didn’t know would work that can get you out of really scary situations,” she said.
Mueller said she that R.A.D. has also made her more aware.
“A lot of people our age think, ‘Oh, that’s not going to happen to me,’ but if you go to a party, drunk guys can come on pretty strong,” Mueller said. “You want to be able to protect yourself.”
