In the weeks leading up to the election, DPS began offering one-hour self defense seminars at community centers, mosques, schools, churches, and other local sites, Abdulla said. The non-profit held its first two-hour Hate Crime Survival Seminar the Sunday after the election, with a mixture of Muslim and non-Muslim women present.

“When we first launched these classes, we actually designed them to be specifically inclusive of the deaf, which is why we were always sure to teach in ASL and have all information visually accessible,” she said.

The last 45 minutes of the seminar were spent discussing how to identify and report hate crimes and verbal assaults and what to do as a bystander, Abdulla said. “It was such a wonderful safe space where women were able to open up,” she told HuffPost.

  women achievements, women in world, Women News