While it seems vogue to use multicoloured alert stages akin to the (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security Advisory Levels, I’m going to discuss different aspects of instinct using the most widely understood colour system we have – that of traffic lights. Continue reading
I hate all the “never do this” and “always do that” garbage I see out there passed off as self-defence advice. I’m tired of seeing victim-blaming masquerading as empowerment. Here are nine tips that don’t engage in victim-blaming, are applicable to anyone, and can work as well as a kick in the balls. Continue reading
This is International Anti-Street Harassment Week, going until Saturday the 24th. To show our support for making the streets safer for women and girls, we’re distributing the following pamphlet on street harassment:
Street Harassment: What it is, what it isn’t, how to deal with it.
Feel free to click, print and share or let us know you’d like copies of it and we’ll do our best while supplies last.
With Border Land School Division’s recent decision to remove the ally cards from classrooms, The Best Defense Program – having been teaching in schools since the early 90s – seeks to make our position on the matter clear: We wish to be allies to all those who might be targeted based on gender/identity, or sexual orientation.
Childhood is not a time where the vulnerable should be placed in a position of seeking allies, but of having responsible allies who are informed placed before them. As a group we support the efforts of teachers who would be such an ally, fully aware of the controversy that comes with identification as an ally to marginalised groups and individuals. To meet this end, we have entered into discussion with the Rainbow Resource Centre to ensure an inclusive approach to our programs.
I know this may have an effect on our ranks, but this isn’t a topic open to debate. This is what it means to take a side.
~Gaz
There’s a controversy brewing over a self-proclaimed victims’ advocacy group and their take on false rape accusations. I was asked by another group if I could write a response to a statement released by RINJ calling for strict measures to protect men from false accusations of rape. Read my first ever guest post here.
Hey, Guy. I think we should talk. I don’t mind if your girlfriend, sister, or any other important woman in your life listens in on this one, but this is really about you and me – man to man. Comfortable? Good. Read on.
I mentioned elsewhere on this blog, victims of sexual assault can fall into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Since that post, however, I’m inclined to edit those categories and add a fourth, all of which I will attempt to (perhaps less clumsily) explain here. Continue reading
I’ve had a number of discussions with well-meaning men on the subject of “women’s self-defence.” Continue reading
A recent discussion on Facebook about self-defence and counter-violence evoked a response from one participant that I hadn’t heard in a while Continue reading
My mother spent a lot of time being mad at me just after my oldest started to walk. She felt I was teaching my daughter to not trust her grandmother, to not like her. The issue would always arise just after we stopped in for a visit Continue reading
