Comments

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.

I just used some of your organization's history in my end of course sum up for my word processing and computer tech classes. My overall message this year has been to encourage my middle school aged students to use the tools being learned to find their voice and to be heard.

After I send this email out I plan on purchasing your book to use in future classes.

Thank you for being such a great role model to my students who are told by society and by education in general to sit down and be quiet far too often.

Sincerely,

Calvin

Matheson Junior High

I am a 13 year girl who attends middle school, and does ride the bus. My bus stop has one other girl, the same build and age as me. I am very weak, and don't play any sports whatsoever. For the past year, I have heard of many girls who were older and stronger than me get raped and taken away. Needless to say, I was frightened. What could happen to me?

My mom showed me and my little brother this video. After watching it, I emailed it to all my female friends and watched it over and over again to practice the actions used against a sexual offender. Thank you so much for letting everyone see this. Now I know that I have a chance against a 200 pound man or woman who tries to touch me. By the way, I thought the hair combing thing was brilliant, and the scoop kick was as well.

I am a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and have performed more rape exams than I care to remember. I live in North Carolina and education regarding rape and encouragement to report is not what it should be. I am sure that most females, both teenagers and adults, can tell you the signs and symptoms of a heart attack or what to do if there is a fire, but can't protect themselves or identify risk factors for assault. I am pleased to see a media form of information regarding sexual assault. Our society (especially young people) is very media driven, especially visually, and to see something is more credible that to be told something. I see victims who have been devastated and always "wish I had made a different decision" or "wish I knew what I could have done to stop this". I could bet many people know the Heimleich maneuver if someone is chocking and they surely know what kind of diet to prevent heart disease, but don't know what they can do to protect themselves in a mall parking lot or identify behavior that is suspicious or threatening. It is more believable that you could have a heart attack than it is that you could be sexually assaulted. I applaud your advocacy for safety and sexual assault.

My daughter (a St. Mary's student) was really impacted by this project and the powerful information within.

While working out at the gym today, I saw your organization's segment on the Montel Williams show. On the TV next to the one showing your segment was a news report on Fox News showing an 18 year old girl that was just abducted from a Target in KS. My daughter was working out at the gym with me. I would like to request one of your DVD's for her. I want her to have the information that she needs to help her know what to do if she ever finds herself in that kind of situation.

Fantastic. I'm a father of a 13 year old girl and a 15 year old boy.

I've been after both to take some courses. Hopefully this video will help motivate them or at least teach them a few things that could help.

From what I've seen so far of the movie, I'm going to tie them both in a chair and make them watch it.

Thanks again...

I am the media Specialist at Wittenberg Elementary/Middle School and I just downloaded your "Just Yell Fire!" for our School nurse. In watching the beginning to see if the download worked, I was instantly drawn in by how good it was. I watched the entire program and will be having my 17 year old daughter watch it tonight. Thank you for making available such a well done presentation on a very important topic. Our pre-teen and teenage girls need to hear repeatedly that they have the right to say "NO!" and that they can change their minds. They also need to know what to do if they find themselves in one of these situations.

Deputy Director, Adult Court Services

Just thought I would drop a line to say I appreciate what you do for young women.  I have been a Probation Officer for over 25 years, a martial artist for over 30 years and a self-defense and personal safety instructor for over 20 years.  During every session I teach I encourage young women and their parents to go to your web page for valuable information to enhance their personal safety.  Keep up the good work.

I received the DVD on Wednesday and we watched it right away. I loved how it explained, in detail, exactly what the girls were doing. You gave ideas I'd never thought of, such as pulling on the ears. I'd thought of the eyes, but never gave it much thought as to using more than one finger and concentrating on only one eye.

Thank you so much for the DVD. I hope your valuable message spreads all across the country! God Bless!