My neighbours Carol and Sandra run a company called Total Defense. They teach self defense to girls and women. Much of these workshops are in high schools.

At the beginning of this school year, in one of the sessions, a Grade 12 student raised her hand just as Carol was introducing the first session and said something like "I'm a lesbian, how does this course pertain to me?".  Of course Carol explained that anyone can be an attacker - men or women - so it's important for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, culture, etc. to be able to protect themselves. 
   
Three things come up for me in this story, which is why I wanted to share it.
  
1. It was a good question.
2. Thankfully this student is comfortable enough to be out and ask it.
3. Carol didn't miss a beat. 
  
Egale Canada's recent report on Homophobia in Canadian schools suggests that 75% of LGBT students feel safe in at lest one place at school, and hear homophobic comments every day in school. In that kind of environment, this student would likely not have asked her question, and maybe she would have tuned out, figuring it wasn't important for her to learn since she dates girls.
Violence occurs in many forms. While we may typically assume that women should take self defense classes in case they are attacked by a man, it is also possible to be attacked by another woman. Being aware of and challenging assumptions like these helps us to be vigilant.
Sometimes teenagers ask questions just to get a rise out of instructors and teachers.  With anyone else this session could have gone horribly wrong. But Carol is on top of her game. It was a good question. She had a great answer. And talking about it probably gave the students something more to think about. Which is what good instructors do.

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© Annemarie Shrouder 2010
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