Mission

AWARE's mission is to educate the public, organizations, and individuals about issues related to personal safety.

AWARE is a source of training, information, and support for people, primarily women, learning how to cope with violence. AWARE training is focused on self-protection and self-defense skills that can enable women to avoid, resist, and survive situations ranging from low levels of aggression to extremely violent assault.

As an acronym, AWARE stands for Arming Women Against Rape and Endangerment, but don't interpret the word "arming" too literally. In our name, it implies that one can (and indeed should) be armed with courage, spirit, knowledge, and determination, whether or not one is armed with an extrinsic weapon.

In addition to serving individual women concerned about their own safety, AWARE is a valuable resource for self-defense instructors, law enforcement professionals, social workers, rape crisis counselors, human resource employees, and victim service providers.

AWARE instructors include women with first-hand knowledge of the realities of what it takes to be able to defend yourself. We have particular expertise in dealing with high-risk situations, such as stalking.

AWARE advocates self-protection along a continuum of force, because different types of protection are needed for different levels of threat. One's first responsibility is to try to avoid danger by preparation and alertness. If a problem arises, one should always attempt to leave, or keep it from escalating, if possible. Only if these methods fail, or if a high level of threat is posed by an assailant, is a higher level of response justified. AWARE is uniquely qualified to supply information and training about dealing with those higher levels of threat.

Our focus is on preventing violence through education and training. AWARE is here to provide responsible information, support, and training to women who want to learn how not to be victims.

AWARE is a charitable, non-profit, all-volunteer group, NOT a company trying to make money from selling a particular product or technique, and NOT a political organization. We are a tax-exempt (501(c)3) organization.

We are not affiliated with any other organizations, and we do not sell, rent, or share our mailing list. See our privacy policy for more details.

Absolutely. Yes!

Although most violence against women is perpetrated by men, we know that most men are good people, not violent criminals, and that men, as well as women, need to be able to defend themselves.

Men are welcome as AWARE supporters, volunteers, and students, though we ask them to remember that our materials and courses are designed primarily for women.

AWARE is not a membership organization, so we do not have annual dues. We are supported by donations, and if you would like to show your support for AWARE in this way, we would be most grateful!

History

Our people

AWARE has been helping to meet the self-protection needs of women and men since 1990.

AWARE was founded by a woman who had an experience that proved to her she was not physically strong enough to protect herself from someone intent on harming her. As part of the recovery from that experience, she carefully researched self-defense options, to learn what was, and was not, truly effective.

She was joined by a group of volunteers with extensive training and certification in a variety of self-protection options, and considerable teaching experience. These people include:

• Women who are being stalked or harassed (and thus do not want their names to appear in our website)


• A lawyer experienced in family law issues


• A lawyer experienced in self-defense cases on appeal


• A number of members of the Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement (AWSDA) and the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA)


• The author of a book for victims of stalking


• Several contributors to Women&Guns magazine


• Experienced, highly motivated and talented instructors, with thousands of hours of combined training

We have grown from a one-person effort to an organization that has helped thousands of people understand better how to protect themselves and their families.

AWARE is run entirely by volunteers. All of our personnel, which includes board members, instructors, and assistants, serve, unpaid, to help AWARE achieve its goals.

Our board and instructors have an extremely high level of training and experience (generally multiple certifications in different types of self defense - some have even taught police). These volunteers, with professional training beyond police standards in self-protection options that really work, have experience in teaching these skills to women.

Our instructors have been cross-trained at various organizations, including the following:

• American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
• Association of Threat Assessment Professionals
• Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement
• BSR Executive Security
• Defense Training International, Inc.
• Gunsite
• InSIghts Training Center, Inc.
• Lethal Force Institute
• Monadnock
• National Center for Victims of Crime
• National Rifle Association
• National Tactical Invitational
• National Victim Advocate Program
• Smith & Wesson Academy
• Specialized Training Consultants

Newsroom

If you are a member of the media, you should know that we're media-friendly.

AWARE has knowledgeable, articulate volunteers and students, some of whom have expressed a willingness to participate on radio and television talk shows, or to talk to TV and print reporters, authors of books and articles, and researchers for various media.

Consistent with our privacy policy, we can provide information and, sometimes, leads to other people and organizations. Contact us with information about your organization, your current activity, and your deadline; we will get back to you ASAP.

Ed Bradley's Street Stories, CBS-TV

Jane Pratt Show, Lifetime TV

Inside Politics, Cablevision

Politics Today, Boston Cable TV, May 19, 1995

The Group, WGBH-TV

Truman Taylor Show, WLNE, Providence, RI

WBZ-TV, 11pm news

WBZ-TV, 6pm news - lead story

Domestic Violence Forum, Cablevision

WNDS-TV, Derry, NH

3-D, Yorkshire TV, England

Evening News, WMCT-TV, Marlborough, MA

Lead Story, CTV-3, Lowell MA

To the Contrary, National Public TV

New England Cable News

USA Today

Boston Globe (twice; front page once)

Lowell Sun (Sunday edition, front page)

Attleboro Sun-Chronicle (front page)

Gun Week

Providence (RI) Phoenix

GOAL Message

Marlboro Enterprise

Maynard Beacon

Middlesex News

Stow Villager

CosmoGirl

New York Outdoors

Fit

AMC Outdoors

Women & Guns

Guns magazine

Women's Self-Defense

Carnegie-Mellon Magazine

The GOAL Line

Safety for Stalking Victims: How to Save your Privacy, your Sanity, and your Life, by Lyn Bates, iUniverse Press, 2001, ISBN 0-595-18160-0

She's Got a Gun, by Nancy Floyd, Temple University Press (February 28, 2008), ISBN 1-592-13155-7

The Complete Book of Running for Women, by Claire Kowalchik, Pocket Books, 1999, ISBN 0-671-10703-9

People For and Against Gun Control, by Marjolijn Bijlefeld, Greenwood Press, 1999

Real Knockouts: The Physical Feminism of Women's Self-Defense, by Martha McCaughey, New York University Press, 1998.

Surviving a Disaster: Emergency Strategies And Emergency Kits for Staying Alive, by Tony Nester, Diamond Creek Press; First edition (December 18, 2007), ISBN 0-971-38112-7

Contact AWARE

Here is how you can contact AWARE.