Free Rape Aggression Defense classes offered by LKPD officers

“If I were to tell you that one in five women in the United States has experienced rape or attempted rape, what is your reaction, ‘Not surprised’?” says Kristina Chartrand, who recently completed a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class offered by certified instructors from the Lawrence Kansas Police Department.

In fact, Chartrand took the class with her daughter, who is in college, and intends to suggest it to her younger daughters when they’re older. “I think all girls should take it,” continues Chartrand.

Researchers at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center also found one American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds, and often these assaults occur at or nearby the victim’s home.

These statistics, and her experience working with assault survivors and families, motivated Officer Bailey Salsbury, a school resource officer at Southwest Middle School, to become a RAD instructor, recruit other LKPD officers to do the same, and begin offering free RAD classes to women in Lawrence.

“It didn’t take a lot of convincing to get my friends, colleagues, and leadership on board here at the department,” says Salsbury. “They see the traumatic results and investigate sex crimes every day.” The Lawrence Police Department now has four certified RAD instructors. All are dedicated to providing women in our community with the resources and skills to protect themselves.  Chartrand had the same goal: “I really wanted my daughter to take it because she’s in college, and I worry about her safety and wanted to make sure she could take care of herself.”

The Rape Aggression Defense Program is a nine-hour course that takes place in two sessions to allow students maximum retention of the materials. At the start of each course, instructors take the time to allow each student the opportunity to tell their personal story, if they choose to do so. This allows instructors and classmates the opportunity to get to know each other and their motivation for attending the course.

The officers strive to empower women, teaching them about self-defense and available options to give them the best chance to get away from their assailant.

“For me personally, it reinforced my confidence in myself, and it also reinforced my confidence in my daughter,” says Chartrand.

Officer Salsbury has led the team in hosting two courses so far, with plans to host at least three courses a year.  All are held in a safe and fun environment. “The class places women in a vulnerable position, especially those who have already experienced sexual assault,” explains Salsbury. “This may trigger some emotions of their past experiences. By gaining an understanding of why the participants have chosen to attend, we can alter our teaching style to apply toward that person, making sure to maintain their comfort and trust.”

Mission accomplished, according to Chartrand, who said, “I love that it helped us build a closer relationship with the officers that serve our community.”

Officer Salsbury is in the process of organizing more classes. If you’d like to get on the waiting list, go to the Lawrence Kansas Police Department’s Facebook page and look for the Google form under pinned content, or find it at https://bit.ly/RADclassLKPD.