Attacked in the red zone
RAD teaches technique to women
NO, NO, NO!
can be heard coming from the John Taylor Building, room 180 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m.
Sergeant Doug Barker, of the BYU‑Idaho Division of the Rexburg Police Department, refers to this kind of language as verbalizing. This lets bystanders know someone is in the red zone––the color for face-to-face contact.
Rape Aggression Defense Systems is offered to all female BYU‑Idaho students to learn how to defend themselves against attackers. Barker has taught R.A.D. for five years and continues to inform women of real-life stories about other women who have been attacked or sexually assaulted by men.
Some women say rape is just unfinished murder,
Barker said to students during training.
Women in the course agree that the horrors of rape and sexual abuse are real as well as rampant.
People don’t realize anyone can get hurt, even LDS girls,
said Alli Burnett, a freshman from Crestwood, Ky. I found out about R.A.D. through the counseling center.
Burnett was raped and is seeking courage so she can fight her fear. Like Burnett, other girls in the course have had similar experiences in their lives that cause them to fear when walking alone.
I carry pepper spray in every coat pocket,
said Liz Sands, a sophomore from Rosenberg, Texas.
Barker teaches the students techniques to create distance between them and their attacker. He advises to run and seek help and to not engage in combat. She said it is not just useful during school, but for the rest of a student’s life.
Each year women are the victims of more than 4.5 million violent crimes, including approximately 500,000 rapes or other sexual assaults, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.
By teaching women to defend themselves, these numbers can decrease. The material is not given or taught to men, which helps with the element of surprise, Barker said.
I took it [R.A.D.] for confidence,
said Lexie Thomas, a freshman from West Des Moines, Iowa. Guys are so much more powerful, and I’d like to be able to protect myself against their strength.
Sands wants to break the mold of being a victim.
If it happens once, it happens again, because you just freeze up like a deer in the headlights,
Sands said.
R.A.D. teaches students how to observe their surroundings, people they are with and how to get away when being attacked. Barker allows the girls to practice their techniques on him and his red-man suit [aggressor’s suit] and body pads.
I like punching and kicking; the physical aspect and the vocalizing makes me feel powerful,
Thomas said. It is fun to actually kick someone, and I like the faces that he [Barker] makes.
Barker said he has gone home with bruises after teaching R.A.D. Students said they could tell a difference in their own strengths after learning the techniques.
R.A.D. will be offered Feb. 13–March 1, and March 13–29. Contact Lisa Robison at robisonl@byui.edu to enroll. 
