Healing and Safety Planning for Indigenous People with Disabilities, Women and Girls
IMPACT Boston, a program of Triangle, Inc., through this innovation grant collaborated with Turtle Mountain Empowerment Self-Defense to offer healing and safety planning programs to survivors with disabilities, women, and girls who reside on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. They offered culturally specific empowerment self-defense programs that will give survivors the opportunity to reclaim their bodies, find and use their voices, and make concrete safety plans.
Empowerment self-defense, or self-defense taught from a social justice perspective, has been shown by research to increase self-efficacy, yet few culturally specific programs exist to serve rural indigenous communities.
Through this project IMPACT Boston served as the technical assistance provider to the grassroots organization Turtle Mountain Empowerment Self-defense, a Chippewa- led organization that was founded by a domestic violence survivor who was able to leave her abusive husband after taking a self-defense course. Turtle Mountain Empowerment Self-Defense collaborated with Turtle Mountain Public Schools at Turtle Mountain Community College to offer programs in special education classrooms, during after-school program time, and on weekends. Programs were advertised in such a way that people did not have to risk the stigma of self- identifying as a victim or survivor in order to receive healing and safety planning.
Grantee Organization
IMPACT Boston, a program of Triangle, Inc.
IMPACT Boston is an abuse prevention and self-defense training program that is embedded in the disability service and advocacy organization Triangle, Inc. IMPACT provides realistic safety training that gives people the skills to respond appropriately to threatening situations in the moment of fear or intimidation. IMPACT also collaborates with schools and organizations to create programs that proactively prevent abuse. IMPACT’s prevention programs emphasize giving people the tools to manage their adrenaline or stress responses so they can intervene effectively when they observe risky situations. Too often abuse goes unchallenged because people don’t feel safe speaking up. IMPACT programs help people increase their ability to safely advocate for themselves and others.
IMPACT Boston is part of IMPACT International, an affiliation of organizations that teach IMPACT skills in their communities.