"The great myth of our individual powerlessness encourages predators and allows abuse and violence to grow. Each step we take in personal safety education... is a shift toward greater personal freedom and an American culture where there can truely be freedom for all."

Your Safety Homepage for Women

2010: Our modern cultures brim with casual abuse and misinformation labeled "common sense." The wildest extremes of behavior are seen as normal human nature. 

"Take whatever you can get or get away with...boys will be boys...life is short and anyone stupid enough to ______ deserves what they get."

Such attitudes surround us, yet abusing others is not natural or normal human behavior.  In any religion, kindness is more common than abuse, and atheists also are more likely to promote solid, generous, and loving values.

So, is violence inescapable, or not?

If it is, we are clearly doomed. Look at the statistics on the liklihood of assault (US Department of Justice); more than half of all Americans will be assaulted in their lifetime.

At MLS, we choose to grow our resources and knowledge, to counteract the victim status others may hold for us. Violence is a choice made by overly-aggressive people. Violence is seldom random. And defense and survival are both questions of knowledge (education and application), resources, and our efficacy.

At MLS, we work to increase knowledge, skills practice, and development of resources for safety. We believe:

• Sexual violence is an inexcusable aberration of human nature.
• All women, men, and most children have natural and instinctive skills to defend against or escape assault and prevent harm.
• Culture, socialization, and taboo impede our personal power, our freedom, and our safety.
• Education, skill-training, and peer-support nurture our power and effectiveness.

The Women’s Self Defense homepage provides important, current information, to debunk the myths that encourage passivity and continue to spread ignorance. Although victims can never be blamed for the choices others make to victimize... personal safety is a personal responsibility. Acquiring, refining, and keeping skills and resources current...is something we must all do to live freely. It is also something that allows us to de-escalate situations, use higher conflict resolution skills, and protect and support the freedom of others.

Increase your awareness and take steps to improve your skills and options, Learn and develop skillfulness with conflict resolution at all levels. Recognize lures, ploys, and manipulations that threaten your safety.

Network and support others, especially girls and boys who are so highly at risk in American culture. Stand up against the people and the forces in our communities that lead to harm.

Not all violence can be prevented. This is no excuse for our passivity; thunderstorms don't make us take up permanent residence in a cave. The great myth of our individual powerlessness encourages predators... as we deny the value of womens' skills.

The remedy for violence is action. Non-violence is an immediate, practical, daily opportunity, and is both an effectively active defense in most situations, and a philosophy that promotes freedom and freedom from abuse.

And it is incredibly rewarding, to oneself and others. Won't you find some way to foster non-violence, today?

How Do I Start?

A good starting point is reading the Self-defense FAQ posted above, and other articles on this page. The MLS educational curriculum is available free online, as well as in distance-learning and hands-on opportunities. Then, consider some basic next steps, and choose the actions that suit your needs and interests:

Read and stay in touch with the MLS Women's Self-defense Homepage.

Donate and BE a Non-violence Activist. Your support enables MLS to provide free public information online and many other unique and important resources. Click on the MLS Marketplace and choose a donation or membership level that honors your resources.

Participate: enroll in online training or register for programs in your community. Skill-building programs pay-off every day!

Share: tell others about the Mona Lisa's Sword Online Resources and programs. Ask self-defense teachers in your community about their participation with MLS, or their possibilities to offer de-escalation skills training. 

Read: consult our WSD booklist for more great information.

The greatest tool you have for your safety...is exactly what you have now -- your personal history, your innate strengths, your values, your intentions.

Only one person ensures your safety. Give her (or him) what is needed -- accurate information and resources for learning. Non-violence is active and each of us chooses the path we take.