Dead or alive

Learning self defense can get you out of a deadly situation by Taylor Cooper

According to the National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL), the “castle doctrine” states that individuals have the right to protect themselves using force, sometimes even deadly force. In 23 or more states, civilians are granted immunity under certain self-defense circumstances. Statistically women have a higher chance of being attacked. With this being said, women tend to avoid situations on a daily basis such as, going out at night without friends, walking near vans. Rape is one of the major concerns women go through each and every day. According to Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, every 73 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. One out of six women have been involved in an attempted and/or completed rape. Eighty two percent of juvenile victims are female while 90 percent of adult victims are female. Kidnapping is another major concern for women. RAINN says, “In 2019, 235,367 women under the age of 21 went missing. Women over the age of 21 have a lower risk as 62,823 went missing.” Human trafficking is also known as “modern slavery.” It is an illegal trade of people for forced labor, sexual exploitation and, even debt bondage. Seventy one percent of victims are made up of women and young girls. Safe Horizon, an anti-trafficking program, explains that 3.8 millions adults that are trafficked are used for forced sexual exploitation. Another 1 million kids are used for commercial sexual exploitation. Men’s risk at being attacked is just as important. Men made up 13 percent, or more, of the human trafficking cases in the U.S. from 2012 to 2016. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline identified more than 24,000 cases, more than 3,000 of those were men. Eddie Nevgloski, senior, says, “I felt most unsafe when I was a delivery driver for a pizza place. I had to go to sketchy hotels where unholy things were happening. Even pulling into parking lots I got an uneasy feeling that something was going to happen.” According to Statista, statistics from 2019 show that men under the age of 21 are more likely to be kidnapped than men over 21. In 2019 there were an estimated 311,008 men that went missing. 212,723 of those were under the age of 21 and the rest, 98,285, were over 21. According to RAINN, one in 10 rape victims are men. About 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been a victim of attempted and/or completed rape as of 1998. This also means that about 3 percent of American men have been a victim in their lifetime. That is one in 33 men who have been involved in such a disturbing experience. The recovery time needed after rape and/or sexual assualt can take time. It will take a lot of will power as it is very painful mentally, emotionally and physically. HelpGuide says, “The trauma of being raped or sexually assaulted can be shattering, leaving you feeling scared, ashamed, and alone or plagued by nightmares, flashbacks, and other unpleasant memories.” This being said, it is very common to develop anxiety, depression, and PTSD. If these develop often the victim blames them self for the trauma and questions their judgment. Opening up about what happened will allow the victim to move into the recovery stage. The amount of courage and strength it takes to open about such a vulnerable state is astronomical, it is extremely difficult to admit. Keeping silent will make the victim down play it, they will start to think if they do not talk about it, it did not happen. Talk to a trusted adult, a close family member, a close friend even, the first step is speaking up. Another thing victims tend to do afterwards is blame them self and what they did/didn’t do during. It is never the victim’s fault for such a thing to happen to them. During the coping phase, the victim will feel shameful or guilty. A thing to remember for victims is that the attacker is the one to blame, it was out of the victims control. Flashbacks, nightmares, memories and replays are going to happen. It will be painful and hard to get through, but realizing that it is not reality is important. According to HelpGuide, your body is going through a stressful time and can cause it to go into “fight-or

Out of every 1,000 sexual assualts, only 310 are reported, according to RAINN.