Empowerment Program

SASS's self-defense program continues the tradition of teaching and empowering women and girls with skills for boundary setting and self-protection in the Eugene-Springfield area (and beyond). We teach physical and non-physical self-defense strategies for responding to assault and harassment, as well as for use in everyday life.

Our philosophy of self-defense is based on Nadia Telsey's Self-Defense from the Inside Out workbook and curriculum, which encourages women and girls to break down internal barriers to self-defense (such as fearing being judged as rude or impolite) while affirming and developing assertiveness, awareness, and confidence and decreasing fear and self-blame.

We teach a combination of verbal, mental, and physical skills to use for self-protection and reducing the risk of assault, such as:

• Learning how to yell effectively and confidently
• Gaining self-worth and confidence in our physical and mental abilities
• Emphasizing our rights to be safe, and that we are all are worth defending
• Working to undo the victim blaming myths about abuse and sexual assault which are common in our culture
• Basic introduction to physical strikes to use against an attacker
• Assertive communication skills
• Learning about the dynamics and realities of violence against women/girls

Training we provide:

• Ongoing Self-Defense Classes: Classes (totaling 12-20 hours of instruction) are for girls/young women ages 11-18 or adult women.

• One-time workshops: Workshops are interactive, basic introduction to self-defense and can range from 1-4 hours and are tailored to the needs and interests of specific groups.

• Speaking engagements or presentations: Depending on availability, we can speak to groups about self-defense strategies and provide basic information in a presentation form (without teaching verbal or physical skills).

UPCOMING EVENTS: you can also find these events on our Calendar

Upcoming Self-Defense Class(es):

Self-Defense for Women: Taught through Lane Community College's Continuing Education Department

Wednesdays, 6:30-9PM starting September 29th 2010 at Lane's Downtown Center (1059 Willamette St)- 8 week class covering verbal, mental and physical strategies for self-protection. Registration open Sept. 9th, cost is $109 +$10 reg. fee.  Contact Lane to register: 541-463-5252 or visit the Downtown Center. For CLASS CONTENT INFO contact SASS.

Upcoming Self-Defense workshops open to the public:

Contact SASS to be put on a contact list to be notified of new events.

For more information or to request/register for a workshop or class, please contact:

Elly Maloney
Self-Defense Program Coordinator
541-484-9791, x319