LAGUNA HILLS : Rape Prevention Seminar to Be Held

A rape prevention seminar for both men and women will be presented April 24 at Laguna Hills High School.

Sponsored by the South Orange County Community Services Council and Parent-Teacher-Student Assn. groups at high schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, the program is aimed at men and boys, as well as women and girls, event organizers say.

It will cost $2 and is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Laguna Hills High School gymnasium at 25401 Paseo de Valencia.

When sitting down to discuss the seminar, many of the organizers said they felt that their sons and other young men needed to learn about what rape means to a woman.

“Young men at that age feel invincible,” said Claudia Colton, vice president of the Laguna Hills High School PTSA. “They need to learn that if a girl tells them to stop, and they don’t, it’s a rape. We want to get across the point that, yes, you can be held legally and morally responsible.”

But Colton also stressed that they don’t want the seminar to turn into a male-bashing seminar.

“This isn’t just a female problem. You can’t exclude men,” she said. “We are encouraging men to come. This is a father/son, mother/daughter event.”

The keynote speaker will be Troyce Thome, founder of the Assn. of Women Against Rape Encounters (AWARE).

Workshops will include sessions on date rape, prevention techniques, places to get help, the cycles of violence and self-defense.

Seminar attendees will be shown basic self-defense positions and moves and are asked to wear sneakers and comfortable clothes. However, the demonstration will not include physical contact such as holding or throwing, organizers said.

All sessions will be held in English and Spanish, with the exception of the keynote address. The admission fee includes a continental breakfast. For more information, call (714) 364-6636.