Here are the facts:

1) One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus;

2) one out of eight women will be raped while in college;

3) 84% of women who were raped knew their assailant;

4) 57% of rapes occur on a date; and, 5) 75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in date rape had been drinking or using drugs.

I recall talking with the head of the rape-crisis center at a prominent Virginia University, specifically regarding setting up assault survival classes and training for incoming freshman women.  She basically said “impossible”, not disagreeing to its merits, but simply due to the fact that while though they had their “after assault” programs in place, as do most colleges…medical emergency procedures, counseling, etc., preventive measures such as self-defense classes and listing these deterrent-courses in their official brochures would scare away the parents of potential students believing that “why would a program of this nature even be offered if there were not an abnormally greater number of incidents?”  Can you actually believe this rationalization?

The exact same scenario was offered to me, nearly verbatim, by the superintendent of one of the largest county school districts in all of Northern Virginia.

So, what do we do about this?  I have daughters that are now 26 and 23, and, even though both have survived minor assaults, I would have gladly registered them in a program of this nature, if such had existed 10 years ago.

Parents, it’s YOUR responsibility; so, please take charge and be proactive with regards to the safety and well being of our girls!  Contact the Blue Chip Academy for private and group classes.