Column response is typical
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Updated: November 11, 2009 9:44 AM
To the editor:
Rita Giesbrecht’s Nov. 4 letter to the editor echoes many who walk the halls of women centres, infusing their own brand of personal safety.
We had a similar experience with another centre. Its spokesperson rejecting an offer of defensive tactics instruction saying, “Women don’t need to change, society does.”
We shared that position with a centre director, a psychologist, who said the position given was not that of the centre and that, in fact, the directors were unaware of the offer. We later provided many hours of instruction to rape survivors who, along with their centre counsellors, appreciated their new skills “took back their night.”
We’re not sure what exactly Ms. Giesbrecht finds disrespectful of our column: the fact women should learn to protect themselves from male assailants; or that we felt a “public show of solidarity” without the big stick was ineffective.
Regardless of her objection, Rural Crime Watch has been inundated with positive e-mails from readers of both genders, thanking us for encouraging women to be proactive in their personal protection.
Jon McCormick
Todd Page
Rural Crime Watch
