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"I came to Impact because my sense of safety was shattered. Because Impact offered me a scholarship, I was able to take the class... as I speak about the experience with family and friends, I cannot help but use the word "impact" repeatedly to describe its effect. Truly, what a fitting name."

Make Your Dollars Indiegogo Farther on #GivingTuesday
Help Us Offer More Safety, More Support, More Healing in the Bay Area

"Impact taught me more than physical self-defense skills. I also learned how to speak up for myself. I finally understood that I have a voice, that my voice can be loud, and that I can be comfortable expressing my wants and needs. Impact also taught me that I could push through mental and physical strain,and that I could do it again and again. It is because of Impact that I feel strong for the first time in my life. I am so grateful to be a part of the Impact community." - Impact Scholarship Student

As we get closer to #GivingTuesday, we are asking members of our community - YOU - to help us keep Impact going in the Bay Area.

You may have heard about an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign that recently raised over $50,000 to make - we kid you not - "anti-rape" underwear. We aren't the first ones to say it, but anti-rape underwear is a very bad idea in a world full of bad ideas that purport to make women safe.

The notion that women should dress differently to keep themselves safe from sexual assault is dangerous and wrong. Clothes do not cause or prevent rape. Rapists cause rape. And rape culture, including the offensive notion that women need to keep their sexuality under lock and key to be safe, perpetuates the myth that women are helpless, that they cannot physically defend themselves.

Women CAN Defend Themselves

Impact Bay Area and Impact Personal Safety have been teaching effective boundary setting, personal safety, and physical self-defense skills to teen girls and adult women for over 30 years. Our classes take 3-6 days and the skills last a lifetime.

We keep in touch with our graduates and conduct regular surveys. Hundreds of women have reported to us instances where they have used the skills they learned at Impact to keep themselves safe from harm. Yes, small women, women with disabilities, and women who aren't marathon runners can be taught effective physical self-defense skills against much larger attackers.

Far more often, we hear that the confidence our students gain from learning their full strength in our classes changes their lives for the better in all sorts of ways that have nothing to do with physical defense. Their day to day lives change because they develop the confidence to set clear, healthy boundaries with friends, family, coworkers, lovers, and strangers on the street.

When we saw that a dangerous product like "anti-rape" underwear could raise $50,000, we'd had enough. We launched our own Indiegogo campaign to provide REAL safety, confidence and protection to women and girls.

How to Help on GivingTuesday

All donations given on December 3rd will be increased by Indiegogo and FirstGiving, so it's vital to get the message out that day. By signing up for this ThunderClap (see the right side pane) and following our Indiegogo campaign, you're helping to raise awareness that girls and women are powerful and capable of defending themselves. You are chipping away at rape culture and helping to build a community where everyone has the skills and tools to live fuller, more confident lives.

Help us make a difference in our local Bay Area community this #GivingTuesday - pass on this information and commit to making a donation on December 3rd.