Safety and Empowerment Skills classes are 3-6 hours and offered to female-identified teens and adults 13 years and older. This curriculum offers a safe space for participants to learn and practice verbal and physical assertiveness and self-protection skills. The curriculum is based on a toolbox approach – adding tools to participant skills for dealing with situations ranging from sexual harassment to life-threatening situations. These classes can be held for a private group by request and/or are offered to the community (open classes) throughout the year at varying locations around metro Denver. Through this class, participants will gain:

1. Understanding of the meaning of self-defense
2. Knowledge of the basics of Colorado laws about self-defense, sexual assault and sexual harassment
3. Understanding of the appropriate level of response to different kinds of confrontation
4. Skills for using stronger parts of their body against the weaker parts of an attacker’s body
5. Ability to execute self-defense moves: use of voice, non-verbal assertiveness, defensive stance, moving in stance, kick to knee, hand and elbow techniques; wrist and torso grab releases; strangle hold release
6. Practice putting techniques together and thinking through an attack situation to safety

The highly trained facilitators emphasize only a perpetrator is to blame for making the choice to assault another person – the victim is never to blame. Use of self-protection techniques is a personal choice and one that only the person being attacked can make using all the information available to them. Please note: Our Safety and Empowerment Training is currently on hiatus.