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Surveillance footage of an 11 year old's abduction motivated Dallas Jessup, who was 13 at the time, to do something to help stop sexual assault and violence against girls. She founded "Just Yell Fire," a nonprofit which teaches self-defense skills to girls. Seven years later, Jessup has grown and so have her efforts. Jessup produced "Just Yell Fire," a self-defense video for high school girls, in 2006. Last summer, she produced a second film for college women highlighting the dangers on campus and focusing on ways to prevent and escape date abuse, sexual assault or violence. “Any girl anywhere in the world can watch for under an hour, for free how to get herself out of a situation,” Jessup says. The way to get out of a situation, she advises, is not to stay and fight, but try to disable the attacker for just a few seconds so you can run. Bite him, gouge him in the eye, or simply yell “Fire” to get someone’s attention. S he says, unfortunately, people often ignore a call for help and are reluctant to get involved if they hear a girl scream “Rape!” Jessup, who has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, says the two films exemplify the mission of "Just Yell Fire," which is empowering young women. “We're also going to schools, shelters in local areas to make sure girls work one on one with us," she says, "make sure they can understand the techniques and really do them in real life.” | 
