Defend Yourself

More safety, more confidence, more freedom, more fun!

Based in Washington, DC, serving the entire U.S.

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Find a class

Upcoming classes

Active Bystander Skills for Interrupting Hate ONLINE
Active Bystander Skills for Interrupting Racism
Empowerment and Self-Defense for BIPOC
Get Empowered! A Self-Defense Happy Hour

About our classes

Defend Yourself has classes for everyone, no matter what your age or ability. Whether you’re dealing with street harassment, going off to college, healing from abuse, or meeting any other challenge, we offer skills you can use.

Live life with more confidence, more safety, more freedom, + more fun!

Join us to learn how to prevent and avoid harassment, attack, and abuse; how to stop a threatening situation with words; and physical strikes to use against common attacks.

  • All of our classes are tailored to the life situations and experiences of the students.
  • All of our classes are open to people of all abilities: You don’t have to be an athlete or a martial artist to help yourself be safer. All of our classes are held in wheelchair-accessible spaces. If there’s something else that would help you be able to participate, please let us know.
  • All of our classes have limited sliding-scale spaces for those who can’t afford the full fee.
  • And all of our classes are fun!

If you sign up for a class and are unable to make it, we’ll give you a partial credit toward another class. We’re unable to make refunds.

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ONLINE: Active Bystander Skills for Interrupting Hate

Organized by Mt. Pleasant Neighbors Helping Neighbors

DC is bracing for another invasion by white supremacists. Active bystander and de-escalation skills can help us keep ourselves, our families, and our communities safer. Join us to learn how to assess a situation and choose a response to reduce harm while keeping yourself safe.

We’ll cover:

  • A social-justice framework for understanding the role of bystanders in interrupting oppression
  • Reasons to get involved when you see a problem, and reasons not to
  • Overcoming barriers to intervening
  • The 5 steps of bystander intervention
  • De-escalation basics
  • 4 tools for intervening

When: Friday, Jan. 15, 6:30-9 pm

Who: Open to everyone age 14 and up.

Sliding scale: $15, $25, $35. Contact us if you cant afford $15 or if you can give more than $35.

Please let us know when you register what accommodations you may need (such as ASL or Spanish interpretation) or email us.

By registering, you agree to hold confidential other peoples experiences and stories shared in the session. For safety reasons, no recording is allowed, and the session will be closed to entry 10 minutes after it starts.


Active Bystander Skills for Interrupting Racism

Attacks on people of color, especially Black and Asian Americans, are spiking. We all can take action to interrupt verbal and physical hate and we all have concerns that can prevent us from getting involved. Skills are the antidote to those concerns. Join us to learn how to assess a situation and choose a response to reduce harm to the person targeted while keeping yourself safe.

We’ll cover:

  • A social-justice framework for understanding the role of bystanders in interrupting oppression
  • Reasons to get involved when you see a problem, and reasons not to
  • Overcoming barriers to intervening
  • The 5 steps of bystander intervention
  • De-escalation basics
  • 4 tools for intervening

Read more about our active bystander trainings in The Washington Post.

Who: Open to all genders age 14 and up. Maximum enrollment is 35.
When: Pick a session below; the workshop is 2 hours long.
How: Fee is $20, $35, or $50. Please contact us if you can’t afford $20 or if you can give more than $50.

Please let us know when you register what accommodations you may need (such as ASL or Spanish interpretation) or email us.

By registering, you agree to hold confidential other peoples experiences and stories shared in the session. For safety reasons, no recording is allowed, and the session will be closed to entry 10 minutes after it starts.

Class Dates

Wednesday, December 2
6:30pm-8:30pm EST
$20 minimum fee
Sunday, January 10
4:00pm-6:00pm EST
$20 minimum fee

Empowerment and Self-Defense for BIPOC

People of color in the U.S. are targeted for verbal and physical hate at much higher rates than white people are. Join us to build on what you already know with more skills to help keep yourself safe. We’ll cover:

  • The 5 basic elements of boundary-setting
  • How to bring the temperature down when someone is escalated
  • 2 simple physical strikes for the worst-case situation

and more!

NOTE: This workshop is for people of color. If you’re white and want to help, please join us for our workshop on Active Bystander Skills for Interrupting Racism.

Who: Open to women, trans men, and nonbinary/gender nonconforming people, age 16 and up, who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Maximum enrollment is 35.

How: Fee is $10, $20, or $30. Please contact us if you can’t afford $10 or if you can give more than $30.

Please let us know when you register what accommodations you may need (such as ASL or Spanish interpretation) or email us.

By registering, you agree to hold confidential other peoples’ experiences and stories shared in the session. For safety reasons, no recording is allowed, and the session will be closed to entry 10 minutes after it starts.

Class Dates

Saturday, January 16
4:00pm-6:00pm EST
$20 minimum fee
Tuesday, February 23
6:30pm-8:30pm EST
$20 minimum fee

Get Empowered! A Self-Defense Happy Hour

Have you been harassed at work (virtually or in person), on the street, or on public transit? Is a family member intrusive, either with words or physically? Is there anyone you want to set a limit with, but arent quite sure how to say it? We cover these and other situations.

You’ll find the power in your body and mind to practice boundary-setting as the foundation of self-defense, and effective strikes for a last resort.

We’ll cover:

  • The 5 basic elements of boundary-setting
  • How to bring the temperature down when someone is escalated
  • 2 simple physical strikes for the worst-case situation

and more!

Who: Open to women, trans men, and nonbinary/gender nonconforming people, age 16 and up. Maximum enrollment is 35.

When: Pick a session below; the workshop is 1.5 hours long.

How: Fee is $20, $35, or $50. Please contact us if you can’t afford $20 or if you can give more than $50.

Please let us know when you register what accommodations you may need (such as ASL or Spanish interpretation) or email us.

By registering, you agree to hold confidential other peoples’ experiences and stories shared in the session. For safety reasons, no recording is allowed, and the session will be closed to entry 10 minutes after it starts.

Class Dates

Saturday, January 9
1:00pm-2:30pm EST
$20 minimum fee
Tuesday, March 10
6:30pm-8:00pm EST
$20 minimum fee

 


Don’t see what you want?

Please sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll let you know when workshops are scheduled.

In the meantime, if you’d like some training in personal safety and self-protection skills, you can bring us to you! If you have any group (friends, neighborhood, workplace, faith group, club/team, etc.), we’ll customize a workshop to your needs – and we can do it online.

Get our newsletter!

Sign up now for the monthly newsletter and you’ll also get our e-book with stories of real-life people standing up to harassment, abuse, and assault!

Read our latest newsletter here

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Meet Lauren

Teacher, resister, advocate, warrior princess. Passionate about a world free of gender-based violence and people becoming their full selves. Loves chocolate, justice, and cats (not necessarily in that order).

Click here to find out more!

Classes for everyone

Defend Yourself has classes for everyone, no matter what your age or ability. Whether you're dealing with street harassment, going off to college, healing from abuse, or any other challenge, we offer skills you can use.

Click here to see some of what we offer!

National Street Harassment Hotline

Call toll-free: 855-897-5910
(English + Spanish. 24-7)
Find out more!

More safety, more confidence, more freedom, more fun!

Get our newsletter!

Sign up now for our monthly newsletter and you’ll also get our e-book with stories of real-life people standing up to harassment, abuse, and assault!

Read our latest newsletter here
 

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Learn something now

  • Run,Yell,Tell, Hit, + Go Along
  • My journey to assertiveness
  • Strategies for safety
  • Should I yell FIRE!?!?
  • #9 Making self-defense a part of your life
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What people say

To my surprise, I found the verbal parts of the class the most beneficial. Instead of just preparing us for the chance of an all-out attack, we learned skills that have been helping me to navigate more assertively through everyday situations. You helped all of us to view self-defense holistically, and asked us to question our role in making this world less violent.
I wish other women/girls could experience THIS feeling of girrrrlpower, instead of listening to Cosmo and Glamour to tell them where their power lies.
I feel so much stronger and more confident. Now I feel good about saying no to something I don’t want, where I used to feel bad about it. This is a big change!
The teachers role-modeled being strong women.
Inspiring, caring, understanding, strong, and self-assured.
This class opened a door for me that I didn’t know existed. I know exactly what I would do if I needed to. It was the first time in my life that I felt that. Even if something happened, I would still feel safe in myself.
Her calm, steady energy felt reassuring.
I unfortunately had to use some tactics I learned from the workshop, as I was assaulted at the beach this summer. I honestly believe that I avoided a rape because of your training.
This class has given me a powerful toolkit and the confidence to yell “NO” and know I have every right to say it. It’s helped me rethink my personal boundaries and feel good about maintaining them.
Lauren is very encouraging and patient. An excellent teacher, she makes everyone feel comfortable.
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Based in Washington, D.C., serving the world

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