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Men's Group Objects To Glendale Women's Self-Defense Class
A women's self-defense class (Photo by forthunterliggett via the Creative Commons on Flickr)
A national men’s group is objecting to the fact that the city of Glendale offers free self-defense classes only to women.The San Diego-based National Coalition for Men sent the city of Glendale a letter saying its self-defense classes, which are given to women only, are discriminatory and violate federal and state civil rights law, Glendale News-Press reports. Glendale has hosted the class for years in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
"Just because you have a penis doesn't mean you come out of the womb with a black belt in karate," Harry Crouch, president of the coalition, said in an interview Thursday.
The organization is asking Glendale to open the classes to men and boys as well. The classes are held in Glendale Police Department’s community room twice in April.
City officials have investigated whether the classes are discriminatory and said there may be a federal law protecting women’s self-defense classes, but they’re going to research the law further. Funding for the classes comes from the Commission on the Status of Women, according to Senior Assistant City Attorney Lucy Varpetian.
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, about 10% of sexual assault victims in the United States are male.
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