In our programs and workshops, you’ll see girls and gender-expansive youth who are confronting things that scare them and learning that they have the power to change the equation; that they can avoid danger, de-escalate conflict, and, if absolutely necessary, fight back. You’ll see students learning how to keep themselves safe—but above all, you’ll see them learning about themselves; learning that they have courage, that their voices are strong and they can use those voices to set boundaries, to make their needs understood, and to shape their futures.
A Girls' LEAP Program is ten sessions of 2 hours: 20 hours in total length. We cover basic physical self-defense skills including:
- Awareness skills
- Escape skills
- Using our voice as our first line of defense
- Strike skills (how to hit, kick, etc.)
- How to defend yourself from the ground
Girls' LEAP brings in an intergenerational teaching staff and aims for a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:4, so there's lots of individual attention on every student. We know that many students and teens are likely to have already experienced violence in their lives, so we take a trauma-informed approach. Students determine their own comfort level in participating, we foster a culture of consent, and physical boundaries are respected.
Girls’ LEAP strives to empower students to be their own champions in all aspects of their lives, to create a safe space for all program participants, to build self-worth, to give each girl the opportunity to set her own physical boundaries during
