What if. . .? What if we taught women, children, and other vulnerable populations, The Three A's? Acknowledge. Announce. Act. What if we taught them to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for? This is what's taught in #EmpowermentSelfDefense programs.

Join IMPACT Personal Safety LA Founder and CEO Lisa Gaeta along with ESD Global for an Empowerment Self Defense webinar outlining specific challenges faced by girls through childhood and adolescence. Lisa and ESDG staff facilitator Rachel Collins will discuss ways in that ESD can provide tools for girls to use in navigating these challenges, and provide resources for new ESD instructors, advocates, and allies working to make ESD accessible to this population Lisa Gaeta is the founder and CEO of IMPACT Personal Safety. Over 30+ years, she has trained hundreds of women and men to teach the IMPACT Personal Safety system all over Los Angeles, the USA, Europe, Asia, and South America, and also provided training to thousands and thousands of women, men, teens, and kids via school programs and more.

Empowerment Self-Defense is a powerful tool for trauma healing. In this webinar, we will share tools for trauma-informed teaching and ways to partner with other individuals and agencies working to prevent and respond to Sexual Assault / Domestic Violence. Building survivor-centered elements into all of your workshops makes learning ESD more accessible to survivors and aides in the healing process. Participants learn to observe and honor their own responses and preferences as felt in the body, to regulate adrenaline, and to develop practices to identify, express and defend what they want, need and feel in their own lives. Research demonstrates that training in ESD lowers rates of victimization or re-victimization, decreases self-blame and victim-blaming, and increases feelings of self-efficacy and the tendency to seek help (Sanquist et al. 2014, Hollander, J. A. 2014). Presenter Bio: Clara Porter MSW, has over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. in Portland, and Maine, which works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through safety strategies, verbal and physical skills, increased confidence and awareness, and promotion of healing and growth. Porter holds a Masters of Social Work, is certified in Empowerment Self-Defense with the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and Center for Anti-violence Education. Prevention. Action. Change. offers training for individuals, organizations, and businesses in Empowerment Self Defense, Active Bystander Intervention, Workplace Safety, Assertive Communication. Over the past two years, Porter has developed an 8-10 week training series for women who have experienced trauma titled, Healing Through Empowerment.

Sarah MacArthur, VPEC conference manager, interviewing Yudit on the importance of continuing our discussion on practical ways in which it is possible, important, and essential to prevent violence, especially towards children, youth, and women. VPEC provides a safe space for presenting methods and holding discussions on the innovative approaches that have emerged in recent decades and to expand the implementation of prevention programs in formal and informal education systems. The first international Conference on Violence Prevention Education (VPEC) that took place in February 2020 was an opportunity to discuss strategies for primary prevention that focus on interrupting and stopping violence before it starts. Yehudit (Yudit) Zicklin-Sidikman is the Founder and President of ESD Global Inc. She is a thought leader, speaker, and educator on Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and holds an MBA with a background in psychology. Yudit is committed to making Empowerment Self-Defense training, a proven Violence Prevention Education program, accessible worldwide.

Empowerment Self Defense Webinar: Active Bystander Intervention Harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, and other factors continues to rise for many people in our communities across the globe. Over the past 4 years, Prevention. Action. Change. has trained thousands of people in Active Bystander Intervention: how to intervene safely in a range of situations with the goal of increasing the safety of the person targeted. Learn the core tools for teaching these skills and how they complement our ongoing work in Empowerment Self Defense.

Refresher and Exploration of the Physical Techniques of ESD Part One: Stance and Striking This webinar will provide a deeper understanding of the physical techniques used in Empowerment Self Defense. It will explore the biomechanics of effective technique including use of body tools, deliberate distancing, targeting, trajectory, facing and power generation. It is designed for those who approach ESD from a perspective which does not include martial arts practice and will strengthen instructor knowledge and increase confidence when working physical technique with students. This is a “hands on” session and participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and have sufficient space to practice technique. Martial artists are welcome to participate, while understanding the limited scope of the class. Sheila Watson is the owner and head instructor of Iron Fan Martial Arts and Empowerment in Victoria, BC, Canada.  She began her journey into martial arts when her then 8-year-old son announced he wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  She has been practicing martial arts for 18 years, earning a 3rd Dan black belt in the art of Chang Hon Taekwon-Do and is a certified personal trainer.  She is aware that martial arts and essential self defense skills are two entirely different things and endeavors to pursue both with equal passion and commitment.

The Three A's: Acknowledge. Announce. Act What if we were to look deeper at how to stop violence and abuse the moment the person affected decides that they need to protect themselves? What if we taught children, women and other vulnerable populations the three As: Acknowledge. Announce. Act? What if we taught them to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for, whether with a verbal strategy or a physical one, if need be. This is what is taught in empowerment self-defense programs. These programs are based on over 40 years of experience and research and have been created by outstanding women with backgrounds in education, social work, psychology and the martial arts. Defending yourself is not engaging in violence. It is responding to it with one goal in mind: to do what needs to be done to get home safely.

This webinar will go over the use of decolonization in ESD and utilizing an increased awareness in the embodied approach to addressing oppression within structures that uphold power-based violence. Through understanding of what decolonization can mean, we learn to recognize the history of the body and the revolution of self-defense as a means to reclaim reparations and a return to the lived experience of the body. We discuss tools used and create a dialogue on how ESD instructors can implement these tools and/or practices in their courses. Magdalena Diaz is certified in Mental Health Recovery and Informed Trauma Care. She is also a certified facilitator of Restorative Justice. Magdalena received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University in Long Beach and is currently working on her Master's degree in Counseling at San Diego State University. She currently serves as Gender-Based Violence Case Manager at Fullerton State University in California, USA. She has worked on student affairs since 2017, providing an informed response about trauma to sexual assault, harassment, and domestic or intimate or intimate partner issues throughout the campus community. Previously, she worked as a confidential campus advocate. Magdalena also served as Legal Department Administrator at an Orange County domestic violence advocacy center. During that time, she co-developed the Palace of Justice Defense Project, which annually serves nearly 1,800 domestic violence survivors in Orange County. Michelle Pereira-Henríquez believes in the principles of survivor recovery through empowerment, community care and holistic/survivor-centered approaches. She earned her Bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles and received her Master's degree in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach, with a minor in Community Mental Health. Michelle has been facilitating ESD workshops and healing circles for soul wound survivors for two years and is working to become a level 2 certified self-defense instructor. More recently, she played a role as a Trauma Therapist at the East Los Angeles Women's Center. Michelle works as a CARE advocate at UC Riverside. Some of her healing practices include CBT focused on trauma, storytelling, narrative rework, use of natural and intuitive tools such as tarot cards, crystals and chakra work for survivors. More recently, she worked as a Trauma Therapist at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center.