News Coverage


FBICAAA Bowl-a-Thon Benefits Local Victims of Human Trafficking

FBICAAA Bowl-a-Thon Benefits Local Victims of Human Trafficking

- Janus Youth
While the metropolitan Portland area has emerged in recent years as a main hub for sex trafficking, many organizations and individuals have stepped up to fight against this form of modern slavery and support the victims, most young girls between the ages of eight and 18.
The FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association (FBICAAA) is one of those groups, whose annual Bowl-a-Thon assists survivors and educates citizens about trafficking’s tragic effects on society. At this year’s...

Just Yell Fire Featured in Safe Magazine's List of Global Heroes

Just Yell Fire Featured in Safe Magazine's List of Global Heroes

- Safe Magazine
The Girl-led Revolution Just Yell Fire is a movement of 1.5 million girls across 64 countries who work to empower their fellow girls to know their rights, stand up for themselves, be aware of the dangers they face and escape violence when trouble finds chem. Dallas Jessup, the CEO who founded rhe organization when she was 15 said, “Just Yell Fire™ is taking on a crisis: violence and abuse against young women and girls. The numbers are
horrific: 1 in 4 becomes a sexual assault...

Adel woman's self-defense business packs a punch

Adel woman's self-defense business packs a punch

- Des Moines Register
Amanda Kruse does more than just teach her self-defense class participants how to jab and strike their way out of attacks. She also tells them how to prevent getting into those dangerous situations.
"I think they go away knowing a lot more about violence and predicting violence that they can deter violence before it ever gets to the point of an attack," said Kruse, 39, of Adel. "They also go away empowered and confident that they could fight back if they were ever in an attack...

'Just Yell Fire' self-defense class to be held in West Des Moines

'Just Yell Fire' self-defense class to be held in West Des Moines

- Des Moines Register
Amanda Kruse mixes discussion with techniques to teach Des Moines-area adults and teens how to prevent violence and how to defend themselves when violence does occur.
"I hope they would go away knowing they can deter violent situations, they can get out of bad relationships, they can prevent getting into bad relationships," said Kruse, 39, of Adel.
I also hope they can be empowered and, if they do get in violent situations, they know they can defend themselves. I don't...

Being Women, Not Victims: Harnassing the Power to Protect Ourselves

Being Women, Not Victims: Harnassing the Power to Protect Ourselves

- Ms. Print
On January 28, around 7 p.m., a 22-year-old woman was raped in Grant Park. The Portland Police Bureau report revealed that the woman had been walking around Grant High School when the rapist slammed her face against the side of his truck, dragged her into some bushes and sexually assaulted her.
This incident has been a wake-up call to many young women in Portland, including students of SMA. Just hours before the incident occurred, junior Aditi Jackson, who lives near Grant...

Dallas on The Lisa Oz Show

The Power of Getting Angry: A Young Revolutionary Who Rocks

The Power of Getting Angry: A Young Revolutionary Who Rocks

- Be Your Own You Magazine
One day after school, when 13-year-old Dallas Jessup heard about an 11-year-old girl who had been abducted by a man in broad daylight and later killed, Dallas was outraged. Dallas admits she was a typical self-absorbed teenager at the time, but that day her life changed. Trained as a black belt in tae kwon do and as a student of Filipino street fighting, Dallas was convinced it didn’t have to happen to that young girl. “This is a real problem!” stated Dallas, after...

Author Dallas Jessup to speak out against domestic violence

Author Dallas Jessup to speak out against domestic violence

- WACH Fox
The Girl’s Center at Clemson University has brought in the young filmmaker who launched what CNN calls a Million Girl Revolution against violence and abuse, to keynote the 2013 Empowering Girls Symposium kicking off Domestic Violence Awareness Month at the Columbia Convention Center on Friday beginning at 8AM.
Dallas Jessup, who founded the nonprofit Just Yell Fire and has traveled 200,000 miles speaking out against violence against girls, has a very different take on empowering...

Empowering Girls in the Midlands

Empowering Girls in the Midlands

- WLTX Columbia, SC
The eighth annual Empowering Girls Symposium kicked off Friday in Columbia. Clemson's Youth Learning Institute hosted the event at the Columbia Conference Center. The symposium is designed to address specific gender issues and the most pressing needs of girls in our state, including self-defense tactics. "Girls need to know they have the right to stand up for themselves and they have the right to be who they wanna be, and you can do anything you put your mind to, but you need a couple of...

Back to School Safety at University of Washington

Back to School Safety at University of Washington

- King 5 News
Campus safety is on the minds of many incoming freshmen as the University of Washington and other colleges begin classes this week.
"First thing is to fight back. Look confident when you're walking around. Predators and rapists are looking for people who are shuffling, looking at their iPhones, people who don't look like they're going to put up much of a fight, unfortunately,” Jessup said.
Jessup offers these tips:
Go for your attacker’s main targets like the...