In the immediate aftermath of an assault, a group of college students gather for a DIY self-defense class. This setting quickly becomes a space for channeling their anger, anxiety, trauma, confusion, and desire. In navigating these feelings, the group of strangers unites as a community and works to move forward together. Using humor and candor, Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself asks us to look beyond the labels of 'perpetrator' and 'survivor,' and to examine the complexities that abide in each of us.

In the immediate aftermath of an assault, a group of college students gather for a DIY self-defense class. This setting quickly becomes a space for channeling their anger, anxiety, trauma, confusion, and desire. In navigating these feelings, the group of strangers unites as a community and works to move forward together. Using humor and candor, Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself asks us to look beyond the labels of 'perpetrator' and 'survivor,' and to examine the complexities that abide in each of us.