Skills in Violence Prevention, Empowered Healing and Trauma Recovery Offered
Vermont Business Magazine April is Sexual Assault Awareness (SAAM) month, and The Safety Team, a Vermont-based nonprofit provider of comprehensive violence prevention and trauma recovery programs, is dedicated to raising awareness on risk reduction and empowered healing for all those at risk.
To promote Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April), The Safety Team will host a COMMUNITY EVENT: Fostering Safety in an Unsafe World, a complimentary interactive presentation, Monday, April 14 at 6:00 p.m. at the Mainstreet Landing Performing Arts Center Film House (60 Lake Street, Burlington, VT 05401). The event will include a presentation and video as well as easy-to-learn strategies and techniques.
A live demonstration from The Safety Team (all trained in martial arts with many earning black belts and beyond) will take place along with a Q&A session. Participants will receive a handout with tips to identify strategies and techniques to prevent violence and bullying.
Registration is encouraged but not required. To register visit: https://forms.gle/hCmhob6CtX7BaiGBA
According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. According to Vermont’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2021, almost 40% of high school female students in Vermont have experienced unwanted sexual contact. That rate is four times higher than the rate reported by high school males.
“Education is the first step to action, so The Safety Team’s focus is to address and prevent violence in a way that empowers all who are at high risk for sexual or other violence. Once you are equipped with knowledge, greater awareness of risks, and a few simple physical skills, you can practice boundary setting while claiming your voice and healing from trauma,” said Christine DiBlasio, founder of The Safety Team, a psychologist with 30 years of experience and a fifth-degree black belt. “There is nothing more gratifying than to witness powerful healing and transformation. Considering Sexual Assault Awareness Month, this important platform can generate awareness on the issue and build safer communities. It all starts with fostering resilience.”
DiBlasio and a group of advanced female martial artists and professionals founded The Safety Team 20 years ago and have conducted hundreds of workshops and helped thousands of women and girls. The Safety Team’s diverse career expertise ranges from a clinical psychologist, middle school educator, physical therapist, guardian ad-litem, childbirth educator, and business leaders.
The Safety Team has run hundreds of workshops and served thousands of women, collaborating with community groups, businesses and corporations, colleges, schools, and other organizations to bring Empowerment Self-Defense wherever it is needed most throughout Vermont.
Executive Director Geneviève Henry, who recently obtained her blackbelt, became an immediate proponent of self-defense when her 14-year-old daughter was mugged 10 years ago. Henry immediately explored how she could empower her daughter and herself to heal and combat violence. An online search led her to The Safety Team and mother and daughter attended all their workshops and wanting more joined the dojo where The Safety Team trained in martial arts and started volunteering for the organization. Today they are among The Safety Team leaders who conduct workshops and presentations to schools, businesses, health care professionals, and others.
“It was daunting to face the fact that our world is unsafe for my daughter and women in general, but I know education is the first step to action, and I wanted to empower us to be part of the solution,” said Henry. “Spending the past 10 years in this arena we now grasp the depth and broader scope of others in our community who carry the trauma of violence and sexual assault. Our team supports family and friends, colleagues, and neighbors and empowers them to speak out, stand with courageous survivors, and finally change the culture."
THE SAFETY TEAM
• Offers public and private Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) workshops.
• Partners with mental health clinicians and other health care professionals to offer Therapeutic
Empowerment Self-Defense treatment (TESD™) to survivors of trauma.
• Helps businesses, schools and groups develop better safety strategies and practices.
• Offers fun, interactive presentations that highlight the problem of sexual violence, encourage open dialogue, and promote a healthy and productive workplace culture.
• Trains and certifies both ESD and TESD™ instructors to better serve their local communities.
WORKSHOPS: The Safety Team hosts various workshops – introductory and advanced – throughout the year. In addition to the April 14 event, on April 28 at 6 p.m. they will host a Level 1 workshop at the Community Room in South Burlington. For more information (cost is $65 with limited scholarships available) about workshops, volunteering, and sponsorship opportunities, or to enroll in training and certification programs, Contact Genie at [email protected] or visit www.safetyteam.org
SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT (March 21, 2025) – The Safety Team
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