De-escalatory Self Defence Workshop for Trans People

Because the things that tend to work for other people… don’t always work for us.

This month, as we inch closer to picnic season, self defense training is back – run by Willow at BASE social centre. We’ll be running an informal course in DIY self defense for trans femmes with a focus on de escalation and collective safety.

Why? Because the stuff that works for others doesn’t work for us. We’ll be working off a zine by TransFighters in Oakland, which prioritises tactics for de escalation, tactics for getting out of sticky situations, being in public, and safety with intimate partners. We’ll be doing hands on (and lots of hands off) demontrations and run throughs for everyone to get to practice.

This zine is based off of the stories of lived experiences from a handful of Black, white, Inidgenous and Asian trans women who used strategies like these to survive in the 90s/00s.

We’ll also crowdsource some strategies and talk about bringing your nervous system back down after a stressful event.

📍 WHERE: BASE Social Centre, 14 Robertson Road, BS5 6JZ

🗓️ WHEN: 12PM onwards, Sunday 29th March

👥 WHO: trans women, trans femmes, gender non-conforming/nonbinary AMAB people

Please brings masks, we will have water available and food will likely be available at the BASE cafeteria.

Please note there will be very minimal physical contact and no fighting/martial arts involved.