TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Self-defense classes for women are not uncommon, but a youth center in a large city in northern Michigan is looking out for a younger audience. 

Diane Walton, the director of The Rock Youth Center in Traverse City, was inspired by a successful turnout for a free sexual assault self-defense seminar for high school and college age women to morph its concepts into a workshop for younger ears.

Nearly one in five women experience sexual assault or rape in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ found this number to be the same in children, with one in every five girls are victims of child sexual abuse.

The Rock will offer a free “Sexual Assault Defense and Avoidance” training seminar for girls in seventh through 10th grade on Jan. 21. Its lineup is modeled loosely around the original seminar with adjustments to some of the mature content.

“The language of this workshop will be softer somewhat,” Walton said. “We want to gently ease them into it. I wouldn’t say we have to scare the kids or anything like that.”

That mainly applies to the first portion of the six-hour workshop, where instructor Colby Taylor will talk about how to avoid sexual assault by recognizing unsafe people and situations. The original workshop focused on college scenarios involving alcohol or date rape, but Taylor insists much of those tips can be applied generally.

“Some of these situations are going to be a little different for younger girls because they’re not going to frat parties in college,” he said. “It’s still along the line of understanding safe situations and not allowing somebody to get isolated — whether it’s at a football game, a party or a school function.”

The younger audience will be a change for Denise Schmuckal, Grand Traverse County crime victim rights coordinator, who speaks to the girls at the end of the workshop about the legal rights of sexual assault victims. Schmuckal typically talks at the seminars about reporting cases of date rape or criminal sexual conduct, but felt the material may be too sensitive for the younger girls.

“I think 13 is a little too young to go into that,” she said. “This one is going to be a bit trickier for me, because usually my classes are for high school and college.”

Schmuckal will instead focus on how to spot and report an older person taking advantage of someone younger or child abuse that may be happening at home. She ends each workshop with a stack of business cards and an open invitation to call her any time.

“They would often call me after and open up to ask if something was a problem,” she said. “It’s important to talk about it with younger girls so they know there are people out there that can help you.”

The National Institute of Justice reports an estimated 85 to 90 percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. Taylor addresses that by talking to the girls about how to identify “who really is a good guy and who’s not” and encouraging them to see value in themselves and not in attention drawn from others.

“Part of that is helping them learn that real love is not the attention that you get if you’re dressing provocatively,” Taylor said.

The controversial advice crosses a thin line between safety precautions and victim blaming for some. Constance Daab, director of advocacy at the Grand Traverse Women’s Resource Center, recommends wording it with caution.

“It doesn’t matter how you dress,” Daab said. “Let them know that they can be safe and pay attention to their instincts, but an assailant is an assailant, and they’re always responsible for their own actions.”

Taylor said workshop leaders make a point to emphasize throughout the seminar that sexual assault is never the victim’s fault.

“We’re pretty much advocating the entire time that it is never okay and never something that they invited,” he said. “We’re simply trying to help them understand that certain situations put them more at risk.”

The girls spend the rest of the workshop learning how to fight with self-defense techniques to escape a choke hold, head lock, body lock and bear hug, Taylor said. The moves come from Krav Maga, a self-defense system originally developed for Israel Defense Forces and translates to “contact-combat” in Hebrew.

“We try to keep things very simple and highlight the techniques that are most likely to be needed,” he said.

Woodward writes for the Traverse City, Michigan Record-Eagle.