What is Defend Yourself?
Defend Yourself works to empower people - especially women and others targeted for abuse and assault – to end violence and create a world where they can be fully themselves. Participants learn skills to help them prevent, heal from, and end violence and abuse.
All Defend Yourself instructors have training in self-defense theory and techniques, in research on violence, and in teaching skills.
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Lauren Taylor, lead instructor of Defend Yourself: |
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| Has more than 20 years’ teaching experience. | |
| Is certified as a self-defense instructor by the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation. | |
| Writes extensively on interpersonal violence. | |
| Was a founder of My Sister’s Place, DC’s shelter for battered women and their children. | |
| Was an organizer of the 1978 March to Stop Violence Against Women (DC’s first Take Back the Night March). |
Lauren has been studying and teaching self-defense since 1985. She has taught classes to thousands of women, teens, children, and men from all walks of life. She specializes in classes for women, for people with disabilities, for lesbians/gay men/bisexuals, and for survivors of abuse and assault.
Lauren earned a black belt in tae kwon do in 1995 and was certified as a self-defense instructor by the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation in 2000. She also leads a program for 11- to 13-year-old girls, GIRLSPEAK, that focuses on building assertiveness, personal power, confidence, and self-defense skills.
Lauren also writes extensively on interpersonal violence. Selected publications include:
- “The Assertive Response to ‘Hey, Baby’,” The Washington Post, Oct. 27, 2003.
- “The War At Home: The Defense Department Takes Aim at Domestic Violence,” Government Executive magazine, March 2002.
- “Walking Out on Spouse Abuse,” The Washington Post, July 24, 2000.
- “Study Has Clues for Spouses Facing Mortal Danger,” WomensEnews, Oct. 19, 2001.
- “How to Help a Woman Who is Being Abused,” “How to Strengthen Your Community Against Domestic Violence,” and “State of Mine” (commentary on Violence Against Women Act reauthorization), Oxygen Media, Dec. 2000.
- “Prisons Ignore Risk of Assault for Women,” Violence Prevention & Personal Safety News, Fall 1999. “Teens Show Troubling Beliefs About Rape,” VPPS, Winter 1999.
- "Sexual Assault in Abusive Relationships," National Institutes of Justice Journal, Jan. 2007, and "Has Rape Reporting Increased Over Time?" NIJ Journal, July 2006.
Lauren’s self-defense expertise is bolstered by her experience in related fields: as a counselor at a women’s clinic; a founder of My Sister’s Place (DC’s shelter for battered women and their children); the education coordinator of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund; and as one of the organizers of the 1978 March to Stop Violence Against Women (DC’s first Take Back the Night March).
Find out what our students and what the news media say about Defend Yourself.
