Rose City Self-Defense (formerly WomensStrength) is offering a workshop designed to help women identify their risks, evaluate their strengths and explore their options for dealing with the threat of violence. During this workshop emphasis will be placed on:

Identifying prevention strategies if faced with a dangerous situation
Exploring intuition as a safety tool and exploring bias
Understanding and practicing boundary setting skills
Introduction to de-escalation strategies
Learning various escape options
Practicing physical self-defense skills

Free, recommended for ages 13 or older, Registration required

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About Rose City Defense

History

In July of 2022, The Strength Programs (WomenStrength, GirlStrength and BoyStrength) moved from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). We have moved to the Community Safety Division (CSD) under the City of Portland’s Office of Management and Finance. This move was for several reasons: CSD was created to house safety and prevention programs in 2021, and the Strength programs were a natural fit. The other significant reason is that we found in WomenStrength, it was hard to reach some communities with our association with PPB; specifically, communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community. This move to CSD was a positive move and motivated us to rebrand our name and also update our curriculum to focus on equity and inclusion of those who we have been missing.

The Youth Against Violence (formerly BoyStrength program) has moved under the Office of Violence Prevention.

Since 1979 we have provided free empowerment-based self-defense classes and personal safety workshops to people around the Portland metro area. We have taught self-defense skills to approximately 40,000 women and teenage girls, and personal safety workshops to over 110,000 people. In our self-defense classes we offer just more than just physical self-defense skills. Included are topics such as using your intuition, understanding different escape options, negotiating consent, information about abusive relationships, boundary setting and assertiveness skills. This holistic approach has been successful in teaching our students that physical fighting is our last resort and we have so many options to choose from if faced with the threat of violence.