A few days ago a friend pointed out to me a myNEU portal announcement about self defense classes. As she was reading aloud what the announcement said, I was thinking, “I’m glad Northeastern cares about the safety of their students.” And I still think it is great that the Northeastern University Division of Public Safety (NUPD) wants to help students living in the city feel safe. But this feeling of happiness only lasted until my friend explained the stipulation that this class was only open to women.

Why does NUPD assume only women feel unsafe in the city? Does this idea stem from the stereotype that men are supposed to be macho and strong, so following this logic they must always feel safe walking the streets alone at night? If you believe stereotypes, then you think women are passive and weak, so promoting self defense is necessary in order for them to feel safe. But there may be men who think they would benefit from such a class.

Men in the city are just as vulnerable as women. Read the Crime Log in each Thursday’s edition of The News and there is usually at least one example of men being cornered on streets and asked for their valuables. What if these men are attacked? Would they be able to defend themselves?

I pose this question to NUPD: If a guy wanted to take the class, would you turn him away solely based on his sex?

The class description on the NUPD website says, “The Public Safety Division is dedicated to teaching women defensive concepts and techniques against various types of assaults by utilizing easy, effective and proven hands-on, self-defense tactics.” It says that these classes are to help women prevent rape, and true, men are not raped as often as women, but they still can be raped.

Though not many may admit it, men are and feel vulnerable in the city. NUPD should not exclude men because they think men already know how to defend themselves.

The idea for this class is praiseworthy. Now all NUPD has to do is realize that men can feel just as unsafe as women can.

– Ashley Traupman is a senior journalism major and member of The News staff.