DC leaders award $20K to train transgender, non-binary residents to protect themselves

WASHINGTON — Mayor Muriel Bowser's Office of LGBTQ Affairs has awarded $20,000 to a D.C. organization that aims to teach transgender and non-binary residents skills for their safety, self-protection, and well-being. 

According to a release from Defend Yourself, the organization shares skills to help those targeted for harassment, abuse and assault to be more safe, confident and authentically themselves.

Defend Yourself's course, "Get Empowered: Safety and Wellness Skills for DC’s Trans Community," provides transgender and non-binary residents with potentially life-saving skills. 

"Trans people, especially trans women of color, experience some of the most severe and frequent violence, including gender-based violence, of any group in the US," said Defend Yourself Director Lauren R. Taylor. "In the District, 47% of trans women have been sexually assaulted, as compared with 27% of women in the general US population. Also in DC, 47% of Black and 56% of Hispanic (Latine) trans people had been sexually assaulted compared with 14% of Whites."

Taylor said the money from D.C. leaders will enable Defend Yourself to train up to 10 transgender and non-binary residents to become empowerment self-defense teachers. More than 35,000 D.C.-area residents have been trained to prevent, interrupt and heal from gender-based violence since the organization was founded in 1997, according to Taylor. 

“I’m thrilled to share skills like assertiveness, boundary-setting, and de-escalation with my trans siblings,” says AJ Head, lead trainer for this program. “My favorite part of teaching empowerment self-defense is the moment a person realizes they’re worthy of safety and respect.”

Click here to apply to be a teacher within the program.