Erica C. had heard about violence against women, but had never dealt with it herself.
As a trans woman, Erica was socialized as a male; It wasn’t until she began living as a woman in society that she felt concerned for her safety. Her family shared that concern, and her mom took it upon herself to find a self-defense class in Philly for Erica. And when Erica saw WIT’s WAVE Empowerment Self Defense program, she knew she had to get involved.
How did she know the class was for her? She says, “I loved the idea of empowerment. It’s not about ‘you should do this’ or ‘you should do that,’ it’s about giving people their own tools.” Erica took the class in January 2018 and was asked to become a volunteer trainer for WAVE shortly after. She didn’t hesitate.
Erica loves teaching empowerment self-defense because she gets to witness firsthand people learning how to set boundaries, communicate their needs, and feel more empowered. She explains, “You can see people open up by the end, it’s an incredibly rewarding feeling.”
And the tools she teaches in class have changed her life as well.
A few months after taking her first WAVE class, Erica was walking to her office door from a parking lot when someone sped by on a bike and groped her. It happened so fast that she froze. When she got to her desk, she was in shock and started crying. She kept thinking of all the things she could have done, or all the things she should have said in that moment. But then she remembered her WAVE training. “There is no ‘should have;’ I did what I needed to do in that moment, and I got myself to safety. My WAVE training eased the burden I was putting on myself. It kept be from blaming myself for what happened.”
The lessons Erica teaches in WAVE have helped her be more confident, and empowered to communicate her needs. She’s grateful to have the opportunity to give back to WIT by volunteering as a WAVE instructor.