| |||||||||||
|
The Defend University Newsletter for May 2002 In this issue: Booze + College = 70,000 Rapes
A new study shows that drinking kills 1,400 college students every year and plays a role in 70,000 cases of sexual assault and date rape on campus. The survey, which was published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said that a quarter of all U.S. college students have driven under the influence of alcohol and 500,000 have been injured because of booze. Okay, so you’re not shocked. But the findings are a reminder of how much alcohol plays in many rape scenarios. While most women tell me they are afraid of the stranger attacking them in some nightmarish place – a deserted highway, a parking garage or a public restroom – the reality is that many, many rape cases are those which involve acquaintances drinking. Detectives tell me that a large part of their caseload fits two common threads:
Remember, however, that a rape can occur any time and any place that the attacker feels he has privacy and control. So, when females voluntarily give an attacker the place for privacy AND they diminish their own capability to fight back (thereby giving up control) the stage is set for a potential disaster. Normally we at the Women’s Self-Defense Institute focus less on common sense issues like this and more on the hands-on aspects of self-defense. But the lesson here is clear and not often heeded – don’t get drunk if you want to stay safe. Anatomy of a Date Rape She was 16, popular and pretty. He was 23, muscular and confident, a bouncer at the teen club where she and her friends like to go on the weekends. She confided in her girlfriends about her crush on him and that she would eventually like to have sex with him. He seemed so much older and world-wise that she was sure it would never happen. But, when it did, she said it was rape and went to the police. She said he took her to a deserted area in the woods. Gave her marijuana. Intimidated her by telling her he was a murderer. Forced her to have sex. She was afraid he would kill her, she said, so she had sex.He said it wasn't rape. It was consensual sex. And a jury believed him. What did she do wrong? On the face of it, practically everything. Yet, she survived, so perhaps she did a lot of things right. It's easy to get upset with someone when they get themselves into a situation they can't get out of. We chastise them for not having the foresight, the wisdom or even the skepticism for staying out of the situation in the first place. But we need to give girls and women the tools they need to resist effectively once they find themselves trapped. If you have self-defense knowledge and skills, please share them with the girls and women in your life and community. If you or your daughters need to learn self-defense skills, please sign up for a course right away. Click here for information on how to choose a course. Or look into the highly popular Rape Escape videos here. 3 Save Bus From Suicidal Passenger Now you have to even worry about morons taking over the bus you are traveling on. A Las-Vegas bound passenger surprised a bus driver recently by grabbing the steering wheel and trying to stomp on the brakes as the bus sped along an interstate. The Coach USA bus, traveling at 65 mph, came dangerously close to the edge of the interstate waking several sleeping passengers. Within seconds, three men leaped from their seats and pulled the man off the driver. "I looked up and saw his hands on the wheel," said Jermaine Lewis, 27, a wide receiver for the Louisiana Rangers, a National Indoor Football League team. "I just stepped up on the seat and lunged forward. I grabbed his arm and the other guy grabbed his neck. "We just all fell back and the bus finally came to a rolling stop about a quarter-mile later." Police arrested Stanley Cunningham, 39, of Las Vegas, and booked him on 32 counts of endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. No reason was given for the delirious behavior. Whether you are on a bus, a train or a plane, it is still apparent that you could be the deciding factor on whether the mad man kills all of you or not. Take a look at the related article on what you can do about air rage for a strategy on what you can do if a situation like this happens to you. Atlanta police test Segway scooters Atlanta police are riding shiny new $9,000 scooters Segway Human Transporter vehicles. The battery-powered, two-wheeled scooters can top out at 15 mph.
Police in Atlanta are borrowing six of the scooters from Kamen's company for a two-month test run. The department wants to know whether scooter patrols will be more effective than foot or bicycle patrols and hopes to use the machines to boost police visibility. The scooter detects tiny shifts in body weight, rolling forward or backward depending on which way its user leans. Its gyroscopes make it difficult to fall off or to topple. Assaults in 2 states may share DNA link An Air Force airman has been arrested in a string of six sexual assaults in the college town of Fort Collins, Colo. last summer and has also come under suspicion in a slaying and a series of rapes in Philadelphia. Senior Airman Troy Graves, 29, was jailed on $1 million bail after turning himself in. Police refused to say how they connected Graves to the crimes and declined comment on broadcast reports that authorities received anonymous letters detailing the crimes and traced them back to Graves. A month after Graves arrived at the Wyoming base, he was reprimanded after being accused of illegally entering the dormitory room of a female airman. In the actual attacks, an intruder entered apartments through unlocked doors or windows in the early morning, blindfolded his victims and forced them to perform a sex act. All six assaults involved women in their 20s living in apartments near the Colorado State University campus. Last year, Fort Collins police said DNA evidence connected the same man to all six attacks. In Philadelphia, the Center City Rapist struck in the well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood from 1997 to 1999. Police connected six Philadelphia crimes, including the strangling of University of Pennsylvania student Shannon Schieber, through DNA but were never able to identify a suspect. Worried that the five-year statute of limitations on rape was about to run out, Philadelphia's district attorney filed charges in December against a suspect who was identified only by his DNA. Philadelphia authorities are currently waiting for the Colorado DNA samples to confirm if they have a match. Fear still a factor for most, poll says About half of all Americans still feel no more safe and secure from terrorism today than they felt immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., according to a new national poll by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The poll also found that seven in 10 Americans were willing to give up at least some of their civil liberties to improve security. Casino killing signals new motorcycle gang turf war The deadly gun and knife fight in a Nevada casino
was just the latest battle in an increasingly bloody turf war in which several
motorcycle gangs across the country have all lined up against the Hells Angels.
And that means you or your family could get caught in the crossfire. Law enforcement experts said they not sure exactly what set off the round of violence, but it has put the Pagans, Bandidos, Sons, Outlaws, Vagos and Mongols on the same side. "You have the Hells Angels basically going up against virtually every other motorcycle club," said Tim McKinley, a motorcycle gang expert with the FBI in San Francisco. The rising tensions over the past few months had led Sonny Barger, the legendary founder of the Angels, to organize a "peace powwow" in the Arizona desert that was supposed to take place after the gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts in Laughlin, Nev., last weekend, Arizona police said. But the peace conference was scuttled by the brawl between the Hells Angels and the Mongols inside Harrah's Casino. Three bikers - two Hells Angels and a Mongol - died in the crowded casino and a Hells Angel was shot to death as he rode away from Laughlin. Tensions are high because gang membership nationwide has expanded over the past decade and that has led to fights over turf, said Lt. Terry Katz, a motorcycle gang expert with the Maryland State Police.
Outlaw gangs in the United States have long had a major role in the production and distribution of methamphetamine - though they have been eclipsed in recent years by the Mexican Mafia - and are also involved in marijuana and Ecstasy smuggling, extortion and prostitution. In February violence broke out between the Hells Angels and the Pagans at a motorcycle-and-tattoo expo on New York's Long Island. The fight left one Pagan dead, five gang members shot, and five stabbed. One Hells Angel was charged with murder. Last October, Hells Angels and Vagos fought during a swap meet at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Southern California. A similar turf battle in Canada between the Hells Angels and rival gangs has taken more than 100 lives over the past decade, Katz said. In Scandinavia, the Hells Angels and the Bandidos have fought it out with guns and high-tech weapons, including rocket launchers. That’s right, rocket launchers! These deadly encounters in public places could have grave consequences for you and your family. Go here to find out exactly what to do if you're caught in the crossfire! Subscribers! Now you have access to the entire archive of past Defend University newsletters. Click here for the archives. Have a self-defense question? Take a look at the past questions asked of Defend University or send us your particular question at defenduniversity@yahoo.com. You only have one life, fight for it! Brad Parker
|
|
|
