Newport women say they must continue to empower themselves, despite the prime suspect for a string of sex attacks moving out of the area.
Newport woman Erin Clark said the spate of assaults made her so angry she decided to help organise women’s awareness and self-defence classes at Newport Community Education Centre.
“I thought we needed to get together as a community … and do something about it …learn how to defend ourselves and how to still enjoy our community, but in a safe way that makes us feel empowered rather than victimised.
“There were emotions ranging from fear to anger. A lot of people were really angry that this guy was doing this, but I think at the end of it everybody felt really empowered and much more confident knowing they could fight back in specific ways.
“This guy’s gone, but there are other guys.
“Unfortunately, a condition of being female is you’re always at risk from some of these creeps .… I think it’s valuable for all women to have these skills and feel empowered and know what they can do to reverse the victimisation a little bit.”
Before the spate of assaults, Newport mother Tamsin Beale founded jogging group, Inner West Mums on the Run, which advertises its group runs on Facebook.
After the sex attacks, group membership increased from 30 to more than 430.
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