What if our systems of education were about learning human rights and how to live together in safety and mutual growth?
~ Yehudit Zicklin-Sidikman
What if we taught all people that they have the right to defend themselves from harm?
What if we taught people that it is their right to be treated with dignity and that everyone should treat them with respect?
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Even deeper, what if we taught people to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for and know that they have the ability to respond and to stand up to various types of violence?
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Mark your calendars! The Second International Violence Prevention Education Conference (VPEC), the first international forum for primary violence prevention, will take place (COVID-19 willing) the 9th and 10th of October, 2021 in the beautiful city of Prague.
The conference will be dedicated to discovering methods that give people, primarily children, the skills and tools they need to navigate the world from a safe and empowered place.
So far, much of the discourse on violence has been largely about secondary prevention that involves removing victims from abusive environments and providing treatment and assistance after the fact.
While secondary prevention is extremely important, we wholeheartedly believe that the time has come to emphasize primary prevention initiatives that will tackle our current culture of violence and create a safer world for all.
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VPEC is the opportunity to create the cultural shift we so greatly need. Please join dozens of renowned experts in the fields of education, psychology, social work, and Empowerment Self Defense in working together to create and explore initiatives designed to interrupt and stop violence before it starts.
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The conference will be preceded by a Level 1 ESD Global Inc. Instructor Training.
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primary prevention
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pri·â€‹ma·â€‹ry | \ ˈprÄ«-ËŒmer-Ä“ pre·â€‹ven·â€‹tion | \ pri-ˈven(t)-shÉ™n
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An educational system that focuses on recognizing and responding to violence the moment it starts
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Come be part of the change we need for a better, brighter, and safer future.
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Together, we can and we will #FlipTheScript
on violence!
Safety is a human right, and until we address it for everyone, things will not change enough for all of us."
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~ Stephanie Cyr, Self-Defense Instructor
Meet Yehudit
Yehudit (Yudit) Zicklin-Sidikman, founder and president of ESD Global Inc., a non-profit organization, is a speaker, thought leader, and educator on Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) with over 20 years of experience in the field. She holds a fourth-degree blackbelt in Judo and holds an MBA with a focus on psychology.
Yehudit is committed to making Empowerment Self Defense training accessible world-wide. She is also co-founder of El HaLev, an award-winning Israeli non-profit organization dedicated to providing Empowerment Self Defense and martial arts training to thousands of women and girls, and is the director of IMPACT Self Defense in Israel.
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ESD Global Inc. and El HaLev are excited and proud to join forces and sponsor the Violence Prevention Education Conference.
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Meet the VPEC Team
Yehudit Zicklin-Sidikman
President, ESD Global Inc.
Yehudit is the president and founder of ESD Global Inc. and the co-founder of the El HaLev Violence Prevention Center in Jerusalem.
Sarah McArthur
VPEC2021 Manager
Sarah is an entrepreneur and the former Executive Director of IMPACT Personal Safety of Colorado
Linda Stucbartova
VPEC2021 Liaison
Linda is the VPEC2021 Liaison in the Czech Republic. She is the founder of Diversio.
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