The Women’s Center is teaming up with the Rape and Sexual Assault Center of Genesis House to offer a rape aggression defense program on campus this semester.

The 13-hour program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques is open to women ages 14 and up, and faculty, staff and students are welcome to participate.

“We would also like to invite the daughters who are 14 and older of faculty, staff and non-traditional students to participate as well,” says Leslie Burk of the Women’s Center.

The RAD system is a comprehensive, for-women-only instruction that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. It is taught by nationally certified RAD instructors and is not a martial arts program.

It will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning Jan. 29 and running through Feb. 21.

Initial meetings will be held in the Multipurpose Room of the Roaden University Center, where participants will familiarize themselves with techniques outlined in the program’s workbook and reference manual.

“This manual outlines the entire physical defense program for reference and continuous personal growth and is the key to our free lifetime return and practice policy,” says Jane Montgomery, director of the Rape and Sexual Assault Center of Genesis House and RAD instructor.

The remainder of the program will be presented in the Fitness Center, where participants are instructed to wear non-marking athletic shoes.

The cost of the program is $5 for materials, and there is no registration deadline before the initial meeting or limit on the number of participants.

For more information call the Women’s Center at 3850 or e-mail Burk.