Did you know that one in five girls in Massachusetts will experience sexual or physical dating violence?
Adele Musicant, freshman biochemistry major, does. She spends a part of each day trying to raise awareness for Girls’ LEAP Self-Defense, a program devoted to helping girls in the Boston area overcome the violence that plagues many.
“We teach young girls to have a sense of self-respect and defend themselves against emotional and psychical violence,” Adele explained. I sat down with the Northeastern student to ask her a few questions about her involvement with Girls’ LEAP.
What exactly is Girls’ LEAP? It is an organization that was founded by Deborah Weaver. She lived in Cambridge and her and other women were concerned about the level of violence. They were tired of just complaining about it, so they decided to start a program that was partially physical self-defense based, and partially based in the emotional aspect. We go into elementary schools, high schools and community centers. We teach self-defense and have reflections on how to deal with anger, the difference between sexual harassment and flirting, stuff like that.
How is Girls’ LEAP different from other self-defense programs? Most self-defense classes are targeted to college-age women, but most of the victims of violence are younger. And we prepare them in two ways to deal with violence.
What does your job with the program entail? I’m a recruitment coordinator. Basically, I’m in charge of the big recruitment push at the beginning of the semester. So I organize events that encourage people to help: flyers, tables at a fairs and announcements in classes. I’ve also helped interview women applying for the jobs. That was a weird experience.
How was it weird? I’ve always been the person interviewing people. I feel more experienced for interviews now that I’ve interviewed other people.
What is the hardest part of your job? Last semester I taught classes and the hardest part was connecting to the girls. Without an emotional connection to them you’re not going to be able to help them. My part of the meeting was to talk about diversity and accepting differences. It’s hard because you have to be both a teacher and an equal. They’re not going to get anything out of it if you’re just ordering them around. You have to respect them and listen to them.
How can women from Northeastern do to help the project? Any college-age girl can get involved. A lot of people worry about not having a background in self-defense, but we offer sessions so you’ll be able to teach. Most of the people I know that are involved didn’t have any knowledge of self-defense beforehand. Also spreading awareness about the program is really helpful. Not all girls know about the program because not all of the sessions are in schools.
What are your goals for the program? I’m in it to help the girls. It’s very gratifying. It’s always nice to have that one girl at the beginning who you think is going to be uncooperative, but then by the end of the program, she’s volunteering and helping and you can tell she’s learned a lot. That’s my favorite part.