As students enter university they experience a newfound life of independence and freedom. For most students, college is their first experience of living without supervision, making their own decisions and experimenting with different social scenes – all while being surrounded by new and unfamiliar faces. While college life may seem exciting at first, students are bound to face situations in which they feel unsure of how to defend and protect themselves.
Campus safety
Universities say they take the highest security measures to provide students with the utmost protection and keep the crime rate on campus to a minimum. These include using surveillance cameras, security guards and identification cards.
Linda Fairhart, supervisor of student services at Al Ain Women's College (AAWC), says that the college has round-the-clock security staff at all entrance gates and screens all students and visitors entering.
"Students must have ID cards in order to enter the campus," she said. "Guests must have an appointment and the appropriate staff member is contacted prior to entry."
At the American University of Sharjah (AUS) a security division handles such services including security officers and personnel responsible for managing various tasks around campus. The responsibilities include conducting investigations, taking note of violations and managing traffic.
Salem Al Qaseer, vice-chancellor of public affairs, says a critical step towards student safety is awareness of the security services and procedures available on campus.
"It is essential that every student has a clear understanding of the few simple factors that could be critical in the event of an emergency," he said. "It is important to remember factors such as emergency numbers, prevention, warning signs, evacuation procedures, etc."
At Dubai Women's College (DWC), there are four levels of security starting from the outer perimeter and working towards the classrooms, said Atiq Seddiqi in the DWC Finance and Administration Department.
DWC's security measures include security officers, a high boundary wall with four security access controlled gates manned around the clock, bar-coded student ID cards which students and staff must use to access the premises and 32 CCTV surveillance cameras that work around the clock.
"DWC is one of the safest campuses in the whole of Dubai. Being an all female college for Emirati students a lot of resources are devoted to ensuring security and a safe environment," Seddiqi said.
Corridors and lobby areas of the college building are provided with extension telephone units, and the college's emergency numbers are prominently displayed in classrooms and corridors, he added. Manual call points are also located in the corridors and lobby areas for emergency use.
Self-defence and safety classes
Though most universities do not incorporate self-defence classes in their core curriculum, many brief their students about their campus security measures through various orientations, workshops, handbooks, portals and notice boards to raise their level of security and safety awareness.
"We conduct special workshops involving students, such as safe driving, earthquake response and periodic evacuation drills," Seddiqi said.
Speaking on behalf of AUS, Al Qaseer said the campus takes "great care and works very hard in providing the necessary safeguards to all its residents and non-residents".
"Various courses and drills including self-defence courses and safety and fire drills, etc are conducted every semester for the benefit of students, faculty and staff," he said.
AAWC has developed an emergency response plan that all staff are familiar with, said Fairhart. "Students are provided with basic instructions during orientation and in the student handbook as well. All material is also available online."
Is safety an issue among students?
Students in the UAE say they generally feel safe and secure on campus.
Lujain Menoor, audio engineering student at SAE institute located at Dubai Knowledge Village, said: "Whenever you enter any campus in Knowledge Village, the first thing you see is a security guard standing in front of you. I always spot security officers and cameras all around the area."
Many others shared Menoor's opinion, saying campus safety isn't an issue in the UAE.
"The rules here are very strict and harsh for anyone who violates them," said Nindiya Prasad, business commerce student from Mahatma Gandhi University Dubai Campus. "So people will think twice before acting."
Students said that learning self-defence skills, though an excellent idea, should remain an option, perhaps an extra-curricular activity.
"You can't force anything on anyone," Prasad said.
An ounce of prevention ...
Martial arts expert Damian Ross gives you some tips on how to protect yourself in dangerous situations.
Always trust your instinct. If your gut is telling you something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't (you are more perceptive than you think). Go back to where you came from, contact campus security or find people as quickly as you can.
Always travel in groups. Never walk alone at night. Avoid "shortcuts". Criminals, like predators, try to isolate their prey from the herd. Groups are less likely to be confronted, so "buddy up" for the walk home.
Never trust your assailant. Criminals are cunning and can be extremely persuasive. Most likely they will approach you in a friendly manner and appeal to your common sense. No matter what they say or how convincing they are, never believe them.
Never leave the area. Your attacker needs to isolate you. In order to do that, he will use force or any persuasive manoeuvre to convince you that going with him is in your best interest. Don't go, even when faced with an armed assailant.
Always take advantage of campus safety services. Become familiar with your college campus police department. Most offer escorts and shuttle services to and from campus dorms after hours.
Study the campus and neighbourhood. Become familiar with the routes between your residence and class or activities schedule. Make note where emergency phones are located.
Share your class and activities schedule. Let parents and a network of close friends know your schedule. This creates a type of "buddy" system.
All about self-preservation
Self-defence instructor Stephen Drake teaches techniques that could get you out of trouble. Amelia Naidoo attended one of his self-defence classes.
"I'm always looking for trouble," says self-defence instructor Stephen Drake. "Not to get in it. I want to avoid it."
Take one look at the man and you know he is not someone you'd want to mess with. With a military crew cut, imposing size and tough looks you would never guess that he was bullied at school and was never picked for school team sports.
It was after he started karate and excelled at it that he gained confidence. But even martial arts were not enough to prevent him from getting into "some serious trouble" some years ago.
After learning techniques that worked in real-life situations from a friend in the British army – as well as jujitsu and Jeet Kune Do – he decided to take the "flowery stuff" out of self-defence and focus on what worked.
Nowadays Drake is a self-defence instructor with The Self Defence Company in Dubai and teaches people from all walks of life techniques that work.
Drake says about three years ago newspapers reported that Dubai was among the five safest cities in world. Now it's among the top 10.
"In the three years I've been here I'm now reading about incidents that I wasn't reading about when I first got here. Nowadays I hear and read about people being assaulted for something as small as a mobile phone or mugged for small amounts that you'd use for a night out," he said.
Drake says people are also quite blasé about their safety in Dubai and don't take precautions when they are out in public.
The sorts of dangerous situations students can find themselves in, Drake says, are when they attend social events or visit nightclubs. "The most likely scenario is boy meets girl – a girl talking to another boy triggers off an incident," he said, adding attacks on females, or "easy targets", are common.
Even though the UAE is safer than most other countries, many students prefer to travel abroad to complete their tertiary education. "Lots of people send their kids to the UK to be educated and the crime rate is absolutely sky high," he said.
According to him, people have been brought up in this safe cotton wool environment in Dubai but find it's not so safe outside the country.
"Self-defence is really 90 per cent awareness – being aware of your environment, your instincts, gut feelings. Only 10 per cent is delivering a physical response," he said.
Drake says television has glamourised self-defence "but when you're attacked it's not like that – these are violent times and you need to know the basics of how to defend yourself." He added: "When you learn this you can put about three or four techniques together to give you an opportunity to escape and avoid a serious attack."
By Manal Ismail and Amelia Naidoo, Staff Reporters