Sitting by themselves or in groups of two, odds were that one of the eight women at a self-protection course Thursday had been sexually assaulted or raped.

Sponsored by the Highland/Clinton Domestic Violence Task Force and the Wilmington Police Department, the course exposed the fact that Ohio’s number of rape victims, at 14.3 percent, is higher than the national average at 13.4 percent.

Data from the National Violence of Women Survey shows 635,000 women in Ohio alone are raped annually, according to WPD Sgt. Ron Fithen.

“Women cannot just rely on the courts, the police or their significant others when it comes to personal protection,” Fithen said. “You have to rely on yourselves. In a perfect world, women would not have to be afraid of domestic violence, rape, mugging, robbery, sexual assaults, but we know this is not a perfect world.”

With April recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the course was aimed at arming the women with mental and physical techniques to fend off attackers. An invitation was extended to women at county agencies, as well as Wilmington College and Southern State Community College.

Touching on date rape, Fithen said it is estimated at least 20 percent of all college women are victims of rape or attempted rape. He added a survey of one Midwestern college showed 100 percent of all rapists knew their victim beforehand.

Showing mug shots of attackers, some famous or well-known, Fithen said a perpetrator of assault or rape can look like anyone.

Referencing “Prevention Psychology for Professional and Social Sexual Harassment: A Woman’s Guide When Litigation Isn’t Possible,” by Bruce Siddle, Fithen said there are four personality profiles that women can fall into and that perpetrators look for in potential victims: confrontational, assertive, defensive and passive. Fithen said the passive personality is often the ideal target for predators.

Accompanied by WPD Patrolman Neil Rager and Canine Officer Kelly Hopkins, Fithen showed techniques the women could use in various situtations. Practicing on each other, the women were shy at times, but encouraged by the officers and the other women, came out of their comfort zones and learned valuable skills using their hands, feet, fingers, heads and elbows, as well as any other body part that can inflict enough pain for them to get away from an attacker.

“We’re giving them skills to protect themselves from harm, teaching them how not to be a victim,” said Fithen, who has completed a course at the police academy on how to teach self-protection to females. “They can leave here knowing they can protect themselves without relying on anybody else other than themselves.”

Rager donned protective gear for the part of the course where he portrayed an attacker. He stood in red padding while the women practiced a four-step process they had learned — knee to the groin, side of the arm to the side of the neck, grab behind the head and three knees to the abdomen.

“A lot of women are lulled into a safe sense of security believing that nothing can happen to them because they live in a safe neighborhood or community. Crimes do happen, even in safe neighborhoods,” Fithen said.

Suggesting they place a key in their hands when walking to and from their cars, being aware of their surroundings and never giving up if attacked, officers emphasized women must adopt an attitude of fighting to win. Winning means survival, they said.

Fithen said statistics show if a victim fights back, the chance of a rape being completed decreases, but there is an increased chance of being physically injured.

“It is better to be an injured victim than a dead victim,” he said.

Brenda Harris, a family and court advocate with the Highland/Clinton Domestic Violence Task Force, hoped the women at the event would leave with self-confidence and the knowledge of what they could do if such a situation occurred.

“We all get in our mind what would be ideal to do safety-wise, but actually having the skills and knowledge to do it is a different thing,” Harris said. “Just the self-confidence where if they found themselves in a situation where someone may be following them or ready to attack them, they know in their mind different steps to take to get away and stay safe.”

Harris and Fithen decided to collaborate on the community awareness event after a victim in a protection order case, for which Fithen was subpoenaed to testify, asked whether there were any sprays she could carry for safety, Harris said.

At the event, Hopkins explained the use of chemical weapons, such as pepper spray.

This is the first such program Fithen has presented for an inter-agency program, but he also has done them for groups such as the Girl Scouts and college-age females.

Fithen said Thursday’s program was set up as a way to educate local agency employees who can come into contact with domestic violence and sexual assault situations on ways they can protect themselves.

“When I talked with Brenda several months ago, I told her this was available,” Fithen said. “In some of the situations that arise where they’re actually doing an in-home visit, something may occur.”

The advocate said she thinks more courses like this are needed.

“It’s all ages of women,” she said, “but especially teenage and young college students who are more apt [to be] in a social setting where things might occur. I definitely think it’s a good project for the community to embrace. We’re fortunate that they offered to do this for us.”

Fithen was in agreement.

“As long as the public wants them or any agency wants them, all they’ve got to do is get in touch with the Wilmington Police Department, we’ll set one up. It doesn’t cost a dime. We’re doing this as a type of community event,” he said. “These are skills every woman should have. It’s a safe environment and who better to teach it than police officers.”

Locally, Harris said, “most of the sexual assaults and rapes is someone they know or someone they are in a relationship with.”

In addition to getting calls from victims of sexual assault who want to know what options are available to them, Harris said they get calls from women seeking validation because “they are too embarrassed to tell or they have told somebody and they weren’t believed. Sometimes, they just need that voice to tell them, ‘You weren’t wrong. You did the right thing.’”

Harris said the domestic violence task force’s annual event, Walk in My Shoes, will continue through Monday at various businesses and agencies in Clinton County. She said at least 25 local victims of sexual assault and rape have written their stories and facts and attached them to shoes.

Who to call:

Highland/Clinton Domestic Violence Task Force: 383-3285 or 1-866-296-5415

Wilmington Police Department: 9-1-1 or 382-3833

Clinton County Sheriff’s Office: 9-1-1 or 382-1611