Beaufort County offers free self-defense course for women this month
Women in Beaufort County can take a free self-defense course and get rape prevention tips starting June 20 at the Burton Wells Recreation Center in Beaufort, according to a county press release.
The course, which runs for five sessions over two weeks at 6 p.m., is being sponsored by the detention center in Beaufort and can accommodate 12 participants. Most of the classes are two hours. The final day of class, June 30, will be an hourlong session on defense techniques. Those who are interested may email Christi Owens by June 17 at cowens@bcgov.net or call 843-255-5194 to register. Registration is mandatory to participate.
The first day of class will include a lecture on awareness and tools participants can use to prevent an attack, led by a certified Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructor. RAD is a program founded in 1989 that focuses on women-only self-defense tactics, prevention tips and awareness. Participants can wear normal clothing for this session but will need gym clothes and tennis shoes for the remainder of the course sessions in which the instructor will delve into defense techniques, officials said in the press release.
In Beaufort County, there were at least 10 arrests for nonforcible sex offenses, six arrests for sexual battery and two for sexual exposure in 2020, according to the latest available data from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division via its South Carolina Incident-Based Reporting System. There were 87 arrests for aggravated assault, seven arrests for kidnapping and abduction and 369 arrests for simple assault. In 2019, there were 194 aggravated assault arrests, 349 arrests for simple assault and seven arrests for simple battery. Information regarding the gender of those involved in the reported incidents was not immediately available.
The rate of women killed in South Carolina is twice the national average, according to the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. The state has consistently ranked in the top 10 states with the highest rates of women killed by men in the country. From 2019 to 2020, the state’s sexual battery rate decreased by 13.8%, to the lowest it has been in the last six years, according to SLED.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, 24-hour help can be found by calling Hopeful Horizons at 843-770-1070 or by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
