- Lana Timmers and her granddaughter Aislyn King show off the “No One Asks For It” shirts at the kick-off of Sexual Assault Awareness Month last week in Wallaceburg.
“Three seconds. That’s how long you’ve got.”
That was part of the sobering message delivered during the “No One Asks for It” kickoff to Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Wallaceburg.
The event, which featured speakers and a demonstration of self-defense techniques, was aimed at helping women survive both the physical and emotional effects of sexual assault, a crime that often goes unreported due to societal stigma.
Henrie Timmers, owner of Wallaceburg Martial Arts and organizer of the event, said both parts of the issue need to be addressed.
“I interrupted a sexual assault years ago, and even with my training as a black belt it took me quite a while to eventually overcome the attacker who was on drugs at the time,” he said. “Over the years, I developed a program which contains elements of martial arts but is geared specifically to the situation where someone is attacked and needs to resolve the situation immediately.”
He offers a free 12-week course in women’s self-defense called Stand Tall.
“If an attacker grabs a woman’s throat, she has three seconds before she begins to lose consciousness,” he said. “We train our students so they instinctively know what to do. There is no time to think, only time to act.”
To date, more than 180 women have taken part.
A sea of purple shirts, many emblazoned with the “No One Asks for It” slogan, greeted speakers at the event held at the Jeanne Gordon Theatre.
Chatham Kent Police Chief Dennis Poole said nearly 90% of sexual assault cases aren’t reported to police for a variety of reasons.
He said sexual assaults locally are often perpetrated by someone known to the victim. That raises reporting issues. The use of so-called “date rape” drugs which affect a woman’s memory also complicate reporting.
“We’re dealing with the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “We need to raise awareness among women about the danger, how to avoid it and empower them to come forward if someone has committed a crime against them.”
Chatham Coun. Marjorie Crew said part of the solution is to ensure respect for people. “We need to make sure young men grow up respecting women,” she said. “No one attacks someone they respect.”
Wallaceburg Coun. Jeff Wesley said the impact of sexual assault can be devastating and long lasting.
“As a father and grandfather, the issue concerns me greatly. We all need to be part of the solution.”
Lambton-Kent School Board trustee and past chair Carmen McGregor said society as a whole needs to address the issue. “There should be no shame in being the victim of a crime and yet there seems to still be a segment of society which stigmatizes sexual assault. That needs to change and change now.”
Glenda Johnston of the Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre said this marks the fourth year of the wear-purple awareness campaign and the 20th anniversary of May as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
In a sick twist of irony, in other local news, in the 12 hours preceding this event, and the 18 hours after the event, three local rape cases were in front of the courts with two sentences handed out, and the rape/murder of Noelle Paquette 'suspects' discovered to be exchanging letters with each other while in jail awaiting trial.
It should also be noted, that during the two hours of the Thursday night event, over 100 women in Canada were sexually assaulted and 7 women were the victims of violent sexual assault through forced intercourse. (These figures are based on total crimes committed in a year and averaged out.) This is why the "Stand Tall" program is offered to women in C-K. A point of clarification as well regarding the "Stand Tall – Women's Awareness through Self Defence" program has always been and will always be offered FREE of charge.
Thanks to Jim Blake for taking the time to come out and cover this first time event for Chatham-Kent. Next year we plan on being louder and more visible!