The Center for Women’s Studies hosted a self-defense workshop March 14 for the campus community in order to teach what to do in a compromised situation.

Lauren Fulmer, a senior health, physical education and recreation major, led the workshop for 30 girls interested in being able to rescue themselves in the case of burglary, assault or sexual violence. She began the workshop with packets of information including The RAPE Strategy (remain calm, alternatives, plan of action and escape) and prevention techniques that seemed redundant to most.

“There’s a reason you hear the same things over and over again (regarding safety),” she said. “It’s because they work.”

Fulmer went through numerous scenarios involving chokeholds and arm grabs, discussing what to notice and how to get out of the positions as quickly as possible.

“I hope no one has to go through these situations,” she said. “But I also hope that if you’re in them, you can get away. This isn’t Hollywood — this is Florence and the good guy doesn’t always win.”

A mass email sent to all students on campus caught the attention of many of the girls who brought expectations that were both met and raised.

“I came expecting that I would learn moves and gain confidence,” said Katie Dansby, a junior. “Now I know that I can defend myself against someone bigger than me.”

The students were given opportunities to practice scenarios with each other. Fulmer encouraged students to practice in the daytime.

“Normally the situations you’re put in occur at night, such as getting a flat tire,” she said. “So pick a sunny day to go outside and practice changing a tire normally so that when you’re in a bad situation, you know what to do.”

These self-defense classes do not excuse men from committing heinous crimes against women but instead give females a sense of ability to defend themselves.

“The reason that we do these kinds of events is because we’re working on changing the attitudes of men toward women,” said Emily Kelley, Women’s Center coordinator.

Sexual assaults occurring on campus impacted numerous students who attended the workshop.

“I would have gone even if those events hadn’t occurred,” Dansby said. “The fact that they did happen definitely affected my decision to come.”

Other students were not fazed by the events and were simply interested in the idea of self-defense.

“As far as I know, all of the assaults on campus have been alleged,” said Emily McCann, senior attendee of the workshop. “That doesn’t mean much to me. Not to downplay what has happened, but there is no hard evidence. The bottom line is that it’s your life and it’s in your hands. It’s up to you to get away — women should know how to defend themselves.”

Men as well as women could learn techniques from the workshops led by Fulmer, who frequently used “him or her” to refer to a potential assaulter rather than just “him.” Many of her examples could be uniformly applied between the sexes.