MOUNT VERNON — It seemed appropriate that a group of young women looked to empower themselves on International Women’s Day.
Confident grins, strong punches, and yells of “No!” filled the gym at the Knox County Career Center – Adult Education Thursday as members of the United Way of Knox County’s ROX program learned skills in self-defense. ROX, or Ruling Our Experiences, equips girls and young women with knowledge and skills to live a healthy, independent, productive, and violence-free lives. The local edition of the program, which has been operating for three years, works with girls from elementary to high school.
The young women learned how to use facial expressions and verbal warnings to deter unwanted attention, as well as being aware of their surroundings. The last component of the two-hour seminar involved the attendees learning how to defend themselves physically with strikes to the eyes, nose, knee, or groin.
“When girls are taught self-defense, they rarely have to use it,” said facilitator Nancy Willis as she sat in a circle with the attendees at the end of the program. A reason for that, Willis explained, is the confidence those girls project to the world after taking a self-defense course.
Candi Wiggand attended the program alongside her daughter, Ava. “I thought it was amazing. I’m really happy to be here. I love watching her be empowered and encouraging her,” Candi said as she gestured to her daughter.
Ava, a junior at the Knox County Career Center, felt more confident with the skills she learned Thursday. “Coming here was really cool. You learned so much, stuff I’ve never even been exposed to,” Ava said. “If I ever do get in a situation, I think I’ll be more educated on it and I’ll have the power and confidence to get myself safe.”
“I think it’s really cool,” Jessyca Gonsalves said about the course she took alongside her sister, Mya. “One, just because I get to be involved in her life. She had a really bad ACL injury, so she’s not at 100 percent so it’s really cool to see other options to defend herself.”
Jessyca also saw the benefits for herself. “I’m studying criminal justice, hoping to be an officer, so it’s kind of cool to make sure she’s defending herself out there, protecting herself. I can use it, too.”
The ROX program is funded through the United Way of Knox County and is run through every school in Knox County. Thursday’s self-defense course was a part of the Knox County Career Center ROX program. Each program is facilitated by a woman who has completed training through the national ROX program. Laurie Jones-Perkins, of New Directions, is the facilitator for the Knox County Career Center ROX program. She teaches a class once a week to a group of girls. The class involves discussing social media, bullying, self-esteem, positive body image, self-worth and more.
“I love it,” Ava said of the ROX program. “When I was first introduced to the program, which was at the beginning of the year, I just loved every meeting we ever had.”
More information about the local ROX program can be found on the United Way of Knox County’s website. The nationwide program can be found at rulingourexperiences.com.
