Lauren has been working to end gender-based violence since 1978, when she co-founded Washington, D.C.’s first shelter for abused women. As an empowerment self-defense teacher and founder-director of Defend Yourself, she’s trained more than 35,000 people in the D.C. area and elsewhere in the U.S. She's also trained dozens of trainers around the country and around the world. 

Lauren's also co-founded and directed Safe Bars, which teaches active bystander skills to staff of bars, restaurants, breweries, and clubs, working to create safe and respectful hospitality spaces.

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Lauren R. Taylor’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, Self, the Huffington Post, and on National Public Radio, Upworthy, and .Mic. Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Ms. Blog, and more. She has spoken at the National Sexual Assault Conference, the National Center for Victims of Crime Conference, Creating Change, and the Houston Women's Conference, which together reach more than 8,000 leaders in the field.

 

Written with co-author Nadia Telsey, Get Empowered: A Practical Guide to Thrive, Heal, and Embrace Your Confidence in a Sexist World, will be released on October 3, 2023, by Tarcher Perigee, the empowerment imprint of Penguin Random House. PREORDER THE BOOK HERE.