The Center for Anti-Violence Education, Inc.

At The Center for Anti-violence Education, we believe everyone has the right to live free of violence. 

Founded in 1974, CAE develops and implements violence prevention programs that teach practical strategies to prevent relationship abuse, hate/bias crimes, assault, and harassment. We focus on communities especially affected by violence. Our martial arts, self-defense and empowerment programs enable participants to prevent, heal from, and respond to violence.

From the beginning, CAE has had deep roots in the LGBT community. In the 1980s, CAE was the first organization to provide self-defense programs for transpeople.  Also at that time, in partnership with the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP), CAE was the first organization to provide violence prevention and self-defense training for people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Today, we work with a variety of LGBTQ organizations throughout New York City. For example, we are providing long-term violence prevention courses for homeless LGBTQ youth, focusing on relationship violence, interpersonal violence, bias crime, and street harassment. One young person recently said of our course, “This course made me secure with myself and relieved to know I have the ability to defend myself. I learned everyone has the capacity to find their strength.”

We also provide free on-site Self-Defense courses for LGBTQ adults.  By donating today you can help fund the upcoming course on May 11th and 18th. 

At CAE, people learn that no one has the right to hurt you, and no one deserves to be abused. Participants in our programs find and learn to use their voices on behalf of themselves and others. They learn how to identify healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to access support. They rebuild the self-respect, personal power, and confidence that is so often shattered by violence. In addition to learning practical strategies to stay safer--both verbal and physical--individuals break isolation and build strong communities to challenge the culture of violence.

Since our inception, CAE has had an extraordinary impact, reaching over 52,000 people of diverse incomes, ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, and physical abilities in New York City and across the country.