“Oppression is a form of violence, whether it’s based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, ability, age, or any combination of these and other perceived characteristics. Impact Bay Area created an online class called “Interrupting Oppression, and their Executive Director, Linda introduces tools and considerations for interrupting harmful words

I learned about Impact Bay Area online after a mom was threatened by a man a secluded zoo parking lot with her young toddler. I realized that I had no idea how to protect myself or my baby if I got into a dangerous situation. Now, my husband and I have attended Impact Bay Area’s introductory class twice now! We both agreed we feel so much more prepared to be in an unsafe situation.

Linda so graciously offered to join me on Instagram, where I share all kinds of helpful tips, and spoke to me about both Interrupting Oppression and Personal Safety Tips.

You can watch our discussion BY CLICKING HERE.

You can sign up to take a quick or more in-depth class by visiting Impact Bay Area.

I would love to see you over on Instagram, where I share daily tips and tricks!

Tips for Interrupting Oppression

You can access the Toolkit here if you would like more information.

Personal Safety Tips:

This article was taken from an interview with Linda on ABC news.

Simply putting your hands up creates a defensible space, sends a message to a would-be attacker, stay away. Yelling loudly will get the attention of people nearby.

"It is much more powerful to say something like, 'I don't know this man - I am being attacked, leave me alone,' " said Weaver.

Linda Leu said, "It is hard to set boundaries, and what we know from statistics is that like 80-percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by people you know."

”One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.

Simply putting your hands up creates a defensible space, sends a message to a would-be attacker, stay away. Yelling loudly will get the attention of people nearby.

"It is much more powerful to say something like, 'I don't know this man - I am being attacked, leave me alone,' " said Sage Weaver.

Linda Leu said, "It is hard to set boundaries, and what we know from statistics is that like 80-percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by people you know."

The first tip, use your intuition. "Be in tune with what it feels like in your body to feel like you could be in danger.”

Tip number 2: Always have situational awareness, know exits, and where you can escape to safely. "Like where are you physically in relationship to where safety might be.”

Tip 3: Make sure you use your voice. "We try to go for the deep, short, sharp syllables, like I would say maybe NO!" said Leu.

Tip 4: Protect your personal space. "Let's say someone is getting too close to you and you're feeling very uncomfortable - you have the right to say ‘Hey, you are making me a little uncomfortable - BACK OFF!"

Tip 5: The best fight is NO FIGHT, but as a last resort, defend yourself. "One of the strikes that we teach is an eye strike. So what we do is we make - stick your thumbs out - and you wrap your fingers around like little bird beaks, then you imagine your scary face in front of you, and you do this - NO!"

Tip 6: Get to Safety. "The goal is always to get yourself to safety as quickly as possible."