Sexual Assault Awareness Month kicks off today with a national campaign to educate communities on how to prevent sexual violence.

The Department of Justice estimates about 321,500 people are victims of sexual violence in the United States each year. In our neighborhood, crime stats show there were 27 reports of sexual violence last year.

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Your friendly neighborhood reporter and self-defense instructor Nick Chamberlain, of Chamberlain Studios of Self Defense in Lakewood, decided to join the effort to reduce sexual violence with this how-to self defense video.

Want to try it for yourself? Chamberlain Studios partners with the City of Dallas to provide free neighborhood self defense classes twice a year. The next one is scheduled for September.