The Pride and Gender Equity (PAGE) Center collaborated with Defend Yourself DC to teach the Shippensburg University community how to defend themselves.  

The event, titled “Feminist Self Defense for Everyone,” took place on March 24 in the CUB MPR from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Around 80 members of the SU community gathered to learn self-defense skills. The event began with Miller Hoffman, director of the PAGE Center, introducing the facilitators from Defend Yourself DC. 

The facilitators, Samia Lalani and Be Steadwell, took over the class. They explained that their organization is designed to teach people how to prevent, interrupt, heal from and end harassment and assault. They emphasized that Defend Yourself DC is a feminist organization that aims to accommodate everyone in the room, whether it be for a disability or from trauma. 

“It’s for everyone,” said Hoffman. “It’s for all bodies.” 

Lalani took the lead on the instruction and teaching of the class. The first topic was the spectrum of violence, which categorized different behavior from annoying to dangerous to deadly. 

Steadwell placed three pieces of paper on the ground, with each piece coordinating to one of the categories of the spectrum of violence. Lalani read out different scenarios, such as being uncomfortable at a party or being followed home, and instructed the attendees to stand by the category that they felt best matched the situation. 

After this activity, Lalani taught the crowd how to get into a self-defense stance. This served as a transition into the verbal self-defense portion of the class. 

Steadwell and Lalani roleplayed different responses to being met with an aggressor, demonstrating the difference between being passive, aggressive and assertive. 

The next section of the class was boundary setting. Lalani had the group partner up for a roleplay activity. One person in a pair would pretend to be pushing a boundary, while the other had to enforce the boundary. 

The remaining forty minutes of the class were dedicated to physical self-defense. Lalani went over different vulnerable points of the body with the group, which included the temples, eyes, nose, throat, groin, knees and the top of the foot. 

Lalani and Steadwell demonstrated different strikes, such as the hammer fist and palm strike, as well as how to get out of different holds, such as being grabbed by the wrist or neck. 

The class practiced the different strikes, while Lalani instructed the group to yell phrases such as “Stop,” “No,” or “Get off me.” 

The event concluded with Steadwell and Lalani roleplaying different scenarios that required physical self-defense that were suggested by the group. 

The attendees were largely from the Women’s Panhellenic Council, but there were also many students and faculty members who attended as well. 

Hoffman said that he received mostly positive feedback from the event, and he was very pleased with how it went. 

Some students, however, thought there was room for improvement.  

“I feel like it was a lot of yelling of the same words, which is great, but taking that much time just yelling ‘stop’ was getting a tad annoying because I was waiting for more information to be taught to us,” said Shippensburg University student Lorelai Owens.

While some attendees may have enjoyed the event more than others, the consensus among the group seems to be that the class presented valuable information to the SU community. 

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