I was raped by 2 men on my 17th birthday. I was a virgin. I am interested in informing other young women about this. I am now 46, but it had totally affected my whole life. My husband tells me I should try to help others, he is right because it might finally help me after all these years.
Comments
I used to be a Juvenile probation officer, working with girl offenders. I've tried to tell the girls not to put themselves in dangerous situations, but a few haven't been so lucky and I've sat through a few rape exams with them. Over the years, I've told the girls that if they can't get away, leave their DNA behind - a finger nail, hair etc. I think this video will be a great new tool that we will use in our girls' circle group. Now, I'm working with foster kids and hope to share this with some of the older teens on my caseload. Good luck in all your endeavors and I'll share the information on the link with my co-workers.
So pleased to know you and your work
This is a comment sent in to our trainers Leila Rae Sommerfeld and Valerie Mainridge of Gresham, OR
Thank you again from our entire team! You and Valerie did such a fabulous job. Several of our volunteers commented at the end that your traiing was the best self-defense class they had ever taken - and several had attended classes in the past. you adapted your presentation to fit perfectly into our time constraints and skill level. You and Valerie brought such great energy and enthusiasm to our class. We especially appreciate you taking time on a Sunday. We feel empowered to continue to advocate for sexually exploited women in and around Portland.
We are so pleased to know you and your work. I hope this is only the beginning of our partnership.
Girl thank you so much for helping these young women, they need someone like you to teach them how to be strong and how to protect themselves. I'm 20, and from Alabama. I just saw you on the Headline News and I'm so thankful that you have taken this into your own hands and are so loving and helpful. And thank you for making the dvd's free. That's a wonderful thing that you do.
I am a junior at Gettysburg College in PA. I don't know if you have been watching the news lately, but there has been a murder on our college campus last Thursday. One student (a male senior) strangled and murdered his (ex-)girlfriend of one year (a sophomore). It really shook our campus hard, along with myself, even though i did not know either one that was involved. After breaking down a little tonight, i realized, crying was not going to change the past; nor prevent incidents, assaults, nor murders like this from happening again in the future.
What will? Taking action!
I found your contact information after googling 'self defense for women classes' and wanted to get in contact with you right away. I was hoping you could hold self defense classes for female students, or any woman (faculty, staff or students) on our campus to help protect us if we were to ever get ourselves in this type of situation. It is very scary to know that an innocent 19 year old young woman was strangled, stabbed and murdered by someone that loved her for a year. Not even a stranger, or a crazy drug addict rapist on the street! Her boyfriend! Someone she trusted and loved! How scary is that? She was not able to get away, she was not able to defend herself. She died because of that.
But you... you have the power to give us woman that power. You have the ability to give us woman the ability to defend ourselves. To win. To live. And to help with our recovery of her death on our campus. I believe that immediately holding these self defense classes on our campus will prove that Emily Rachel Silverstein did not die in vain.
Please help me, help us. Give us the power, the ability to defend ourselves and live.
What will? Taking action!
I found your contact information after googling 'self defense for women classes' and wanted to get in contact with you right away. I was hoping you could hold self defense classes for female students, or any woman (faculty, staff or students) on our campus to help protect us if we were to ever get ourselves in this type of situation. It is very scary to know that an innocent 19 year old young woman was strangled, stabbed and murdered by someone that loved her for a year. Not even a stranger, or a crazy drug addict rapist on the street! Her boyfriend! Someone she trusted and loved! How scary is that? She was not able to get away, she was not able to defend herself. She died because of that.
But you... you have the power to give us woman that power. You have the ability to give us woman the ability to defend ourselves. To win. To live. And to help with our recovery of her death on our campus. I believe that immediately holding these self defense classes on our campus will prove that Emily Rachel Silverstein did not die in vain.
Please help me, help us. Give us the power, the ability to defend ourselves and live.
First let me say how impressed I was when I saw the 2 of you on Montel this afternoon. You are both to be commended. I would like to request a copy of the DVD Just yell fire. I am taking a group of 8 teenage girls from my youth group to a very large conference in St. Louis this summer. I think showing them this film will go a very long way in easing some of the parents minds about sending their daughters so very far away to such a large city. Thank you very much for your efforts. You should be very proud of yourselves!
I was just setting for my daily coffee when Montel came on, I heard about the DVD that two young girls had made, so I watched your DVD. WOW! How proud I was to see what a great job you and your friend had done, and now by paying it forward will help so many young girls and even children. I was a victim many many years ago and it still haunts me to think I had no idea on how to fight back. My attacker was not a stranger but my own father, however if I had known or seen a DVD such as yours I would have known to fight no matter who was the assaulter was.
I'm now a grandmother of two beautiful grandchildren and I don't know what I would do if anyone ever hurt them. I'm so proud of the work you have done and the strength and courage you have shown in your DVD.
Thank you for your Efforts and thank you for sharing such a wonderful DVD. Keep up the great work girls.
I just had the pleasure of reading the article Fighting Fire with Fire by Dallas Jessup in the Current Health 2 Sept. 2009 issue and watched the Just Yell Fire video on the website listed. What a tremendous video! I want to extend my sincere thanks to Dallas and everyone involved in making this video and to let you know I plan to include it in my Human Sexuality Course that I teach as part of my health curriculum. Thank you for helping all girls everywhere stay safe!
Hi Dallas,
First of all my daughter and I love Just Yell Fire!
I run my own Personal Self Defense program, It's a family run side business, nothing big.
I have been involved in the Martial Arts since 1990, I train with people of all ages and I saw your Just Yell Fire dvd a few years ago and I have had my daughter who is now a teenager OMG! watch with me and her friends. Usually when they sleep over this is how I introduce the dvd, sometimes my daughter gives me the look like "dad really? Now."…lol but I get them to watch and I really think this is a Great tool for all girls to have! To give them a sense of knowing they can fight back! To know how to defend themselves with basic life saving Techniques. I will be posting your link to my NPSDT page on Facebook.
Thank you for this DVD! And for having it out there for anyone to see.
Once again.
Thanks
My teen daughters and I have just finished watching Montel Williams show. I am so impressed with the courage and determination of Dallas and her friends for making this video. Keep up the good work, everyone who helped in the film should be proud of what they have done and know that they are helping to save someone's life.