As part of Sexual Assault Awareness Week, campus sexual assault awareness and prevention group The Leading Edge brought a self-defense expert Wednesday night to teach female students basic protective skills.

Brandi Pharris taught the class in the Student Activity Center along with her husband. She said it is necessary for women to know effective ways to protect themselves.

“We did some research and came up with all the other witnesses of defense classes, they were like, ‘you had to know martial arts of some sort,’ and they would teach you martial arts,” Pharris said. “So we came up with this curriculum, so simple, with stuff that you’ve been doing all your life.”

For example, they told the class to scream “Fire!” instead of “Help!” to alert others, because bystanders are most likely to call the police.

“I think it’s important as females to know how to protect yourself, because even though people think Green Hills is safe, anything can happen,” nursing student Rachel Hunter said. 

“We can’t just be seen as passive people that let anything happen and we should let people know that we are strong,” said Carley Gilson, also a Nursing student.

This is the fourth year that The Leading Edge is hosting a sexual assault awareness event at Lipscomb, but the first year that it is extended to a full week.

Senior Delaney Gilbert, a founding member of the group, and The Leading Edge team organized a series of events to educate people about sexual assault. Anonymous sexual assault survivors will speak on campus Thursday evening as part of the “Confessions” series. 

Gilbert said the main goal of the organization is “striving to bring the Kingdom of God to Lipscomb by supporting survivors, educating our community and advocating for restorative change.”

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