As sweat pooled down her face and a low guttural grunt escaped her mouth, DePaul University student Natalie Marcrum gave one final thrust of her knee to the imaginary predator. Learning to defend herself, as well as others Marcrum works to prevent sexual assault before it happens.
In support of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness at DePaul University has partnered with various departments and student lead organizations to bring forth information in coping, recognizing and preventing sexual violence.
“It’s important for colleges to be involved because sexual assault is most prevalent on college campuses,” said Ava Bibergal, a DePaul University student.
Hosting various activities, self defense
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Pro-action is the common the motif throughout Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Providing the necessary means to be better equipped with the skills and understanding to combat sexual assault are key goals.
The event IMPACT Self Defense Workshop held at DePaul Ray Meyer Fitness, Wednesday, April 13, offered women the chance to learn and practice prevention, evaluation, boundary setting, and physical self-defense techniques. For the first 60 minutes various defense practices were taught by IMPACT Chicago, a local self-defense organization led by a volunteer Board of Directors and Administrative Team. Afterwards, the attendees sat in a circle, where participants partook in a 30-minute open discussion sharing safe self-protection methods.
Each event incorporates a teaching portion to help better inform the severity of sexual violence. “You don’t really realize it’s such a large, but actual real issue. You mainly just think of stats” said Bibergal. “These events made me realize the reality of sexual