About our work:

Breaking Free was the brainchild of Nadia Telsey, consultant and expert on self-defense and founder of Self Defense from the Inside Out (SDIO), and Phyllis Barkhurst. Formed in 2000, this non-profit organization is the result of years of conversations about how to disseminate projects that transform women from feelings of pain, helplessness or fear into feelings of power. It has since expanded its work to providing general self-defense workshops and classes for young people, and developing a curriculum on safety and healthy relationships for people with developmental disabilities.

Nadia Telsey has taught feminist self defense workshops and courses since 1975. In 1997 she was asked by Oregon's Adult and Family Services (now called the Department of Human Services) to create a course to accompany her workbook, Self Defense from the Inside Out. This course was subsequently attended by 86 women throughout the state and was given rave reviews. Under AFS, Nadia then developed a training course and a Leader/Facilitator's Guide to SDIO to certify women to facilitate groups. Breaking Free was formed to support and disseminate this a related work, independent of AFS/DHS.

Our Mission and Philosophy

Breaking Free was a feminist organization dedicated to empowering and educating our community to prevent and heal from sexual violence.

We believe ...

    • Violence against women is part of a greater oppresion of women and intersects with other oppression based on other factors (race, sexuality, religion, ability, etc);
    • Both the acts of violence and the fear of violence restrict our lives;
    • Our actions as a non-profit must be consistent with our goal of building a society based on respect and compassion.

Recent Projects:

In 2005 Breaking Free received two 5-year Rape Prevention Education (RPE) grants:

One to work with adults with developmental disabilities to foster healthy relationships and safe interaction skills, a nd the other to work with youth, specifically young women ages 11-18 to learn self-defense strategies, empowerment skills and awareness about sexual violence.

Safety and Healthy Relationships for People with Developmental Disabilities

The importance of this project is clear from the fact that people with developmental disabilities (PWDD) are targeted as victims at much higher rates than the general population and often suffer repeated victimization. Perpetrators target those perceived as accessible, vulnerable and lacking credibility. Unfortunately, PWDD fit all three profiles. Additionally, PWDD receive little education around healthy relationships, sexuality or abuse of any type, including sexual abuse.

Year one of this project was spent reviewing curricula from around the U.S., creating a review grid to assess them, creating our own curriculum, and testing it with girls in the Sheldon High School LifeSkills Program.

In Fall of 2006 we taught people who work with PWDD to use this curriculum and, in the process, have become partners in revising it. We successfully completed a teacher training on this curriculum.

Our project was part of a statewide initiative of the state's Sexual Assault Task Force. Our participation in a statewide Advisory Committee allowed us to tap the expertise of many people in the state and to disseminate our curriculum throughout Oregon.

Youth Empowered to End Sexual Violence (YEESV)

Our second project focused on youth ages 11-18 years. We began with classes for girls that included an opportunity for them to be involved in community level efforts to prevention of sexual violence, while also empowering them with self-defense, assertiveness and awareness skills.

We taught a pilot class at the Village School in Eugene in the Spring of 2005. From 2006-2008, we taught several classes in partnership with Ophelia's Place: for girls 11-15, for women and girl pairs (an inter-generational class), one for high school age (15-18) young women at Thurston High School for girls and young women 11-18.

To find out about upcoming classes please contact Sexual Assault Support Services.