Get Home Safe: A Guide to Self-Defense and Building Our Collective Power

Abdelhamid, founder of the Queens, N.Y.–based antiviolence organization Malikah, grounds her valuable debut guide to women’s self-defense in a call for marginalized groups to reclaim their collective strength. Her strategy for ending violence comprises four interconnected layers: fostering emotional safety via healing methods such as journaling or small-group discussion to untangle the psychological effects of gender-based violence; ensuring physical safety by building situational awareness (heeding gut feelings when something feels off; taking stock of “energy shifts, body language, exits, red flags”); building financial safety and the means to escape harmful domestic situations by monetizing marketable skills; and working toward communal safety by supporting political initiatives that aim to protect the most marginalized. Though the task Abdelhamid takes on is daunting, she provides a surprising amount of clear, usable strategies (including a lucid guide to physical self-defense with tips on breaking free from wrist grabs and headlocks), and the links she draws between individual and communal healing offer a potent corrective to the isolation and shame that gender-based violence can breed. This empowers and informs. (Feb.)