Missouri Southern will be offering Rape Aggression Defense, also known as RAD, classes every Thursday night in the month of February.

The program has been offered since 2005 and is offered in February and September of each year. The program teaches women how to defend themselves in risky environments and notice the ‘red flags’ of a sexual predator. The class is offered at no cost for female students to  ensure they can attend. Statistics say 95percent of all sexual rapes are never reported to law enforcement, Ken Kennedy, chief of campus police, believes that a more preventive measure needs to be taken.

“At Southern, we are being pro-active by offering this class to our female students.” he says. “It is extremely important for college girls, as statistics reveal that one in four from that group will be sexually assaulted by the time they graduate. At Southern we are being proactive by offering this class to our female students.”

Kennedy has been with Southern 10 years since retiring from the Joplin Police Department and says the class and seems popular among the students.

The class fills up quickly with about 30-50 girls in attendance the first night, according to Kennedy and says there is still a “great need to teach girls to how to protect themselves.”

To learn what techniques are used he says you must attend to the class to find out.