"What I learned in self defense was that I had been really misinformed about sexual violence: what it is, whose fault it is, who perpetrates it, and what works to prevent it. And that, by being misinformed, I had been set up to be victimized -- and to blame myself.

I was so galled by this that over the next thirty years I went on to become a self-defense teacher and a social worker serving other survivors. In this work, I’ve come to understand that most people are grossly misinformed about sexual violence. 

And I’ve come to believe that, armed with the truth, we have a fighting chance to stop sexual violence -- both individually, and as a culture."

I was honored to be selected to participate in the 2019 Easthampton, MA TEDx Women event. You can see my entire talk on the TEDx site.