A student learns how to fend off potential attackers in a police department Rape Agression Defense course last spring. Yard classes this year begin Oct. 6.
Students ambling through Harvard Yard on a quiet evening last April were bewildered by powerful screams floating out of Grays Hall.
“No, no, no, no, no!”
Thirty women clad in athletic gear stood in the dorm’s common room, talking, laughing and eating chips and dip as they learned the art of using their bodies—and voices—as defensive weapons.
As Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Patrol Officer Kristin L. Metivier explains how to break someone’s nose with a quick clean jab, the women pantomime the motion—chips in hand.
Although this scene may appear strange to onlookers, it is nothing new to Harvard.
Since 1995, HUPD officers have offered Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes designed to teach women in the community how to defend themselves in the event of a violent attack.
Over 1,600 Harvard women—from students to proctors to administrators—have taken RAD classes to learn verbal and physical tactics that HUPD officials say can reduce the risk of sexual or physical assault.
Playing the Odds
Both students and administrators say RAD is an essential aspect of promoting campus safety.
Tatianna C. Bartch ’06 grew up on a military base where she was used to a safe and trusting community. But she says living in Cambridge changed her perspective.
“My natural behavior is to talk with strangers and make eye contact with everyone,” she says. “Safety wasn’t a factor in any of my decisions and that began to worry me when I came to college.”
After Bartch left the Freshman Formal last year, a car filled with men followed her and attempted to pull her into the car.
“It was really scary,” she says. “I was feeling really naive. [RAD] helped me because it opened my eyes and changed my attitude. I’m taking all the preventative measures they taught me.”
According to a December 2000 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 27.7 women are raped for every 1,000 female students in a given University population. By that figure, the Coalition Against Sexual Violence estimates that approximately 83 rapes occur at Harvard each year.
And a University Health Services survey last year reported that about 0.9 percent of undergraduates had experienced sexual penetration against their will.
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