MOSES LAKE — You can never have too many partners in the war on domestic violence, and the New Hope Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Crime Victim Services in Moses Lake picked up another ally.

Damsel In Defense, a self-defense based company that provides non-lethal defense products, has named New Hope its Corporate Charity for the month of May and will be making a financial donation to the service. Damsel in Defense representatives across the country will be spotlighting them in home parties.

“This (recognition) is tremendous. It’s exciting to have another partner that sees the things that we see,” New Hope director Carolyn Pence said. “It shows the importance of giving strength back to the clients and giving them their independence. Unfortunately, domestic violence and sexual assault are always going to be out there, impacting the men, women and children of our community. This helps us to meet their needs and help make the transition back to a normal, safe place as smooth as possible.”

Mindy Lin and Bethany Hughes, founded the self-defense based company called Damsel in Defense in September 2011 with a line of non-lethal defense products. Damsel in Defense, which is a multi-level marketing company, is about equipping women with the tools to not only keep them safe, but to give them the confidence to know they have a way out if threatened.

New Hope Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services serves Grant and Adam counties, providing the community with a 24-hour crisis line, medical advocacy for those needing medical help, legal advocacy, and community support to help survivors get the help they need among so many other services.

According to the Damsel in Defense Facebook page, New Hope is making incredible waves in the Columbia Basin to end domestic and sexual assault and we are so honored to support them this month.

“What I thought was impressive with New Hope is that they cover Grant and Adams counties, and there’s only small number of staff members providing the services. I think there’s only eight of them,” said Damsel in Defense representative Karen Johnson, who nominated New Hope to the national committee. “They provide counseling. They go out to people’s homes to help. The services they provide really are right where we’re at with equipping, protecting and empowering women to get out of a bad situation. They do education in the schools. They’re just a tremendous organization.”

There are other multi-level marketing companies out there like Avon, Mary Kay, Younique, and more who are only targeted to women. The main difference with Damsel in Defense is that they are the first ones to tap into the self-defense industry. The Damsel in Defense product line includes products like pepper spray, stun guns, emergency kits and more.

Because of the nature of the business, Damsel in Defense also did a presentation for the New Hope staff, throwing out ideas to defuse any violent situation that arise in the office or when they make home visits.

“We educated their staff on what is available. These are women that might get a call in the middle of the night and have to go a remote location,” Johnson said. “We want them to have something with them in their car for protection. We talked about the stun guns, because they are going into a dangerous situation. They’re going out to farms in remote locations, so we wanted to be prepared. We also wanted to give them reinforcement on the safety training they’ve already had.”

One area of concern, Johnson said, is the new office on Third Street sometimes requires staff members to park down the street. A lot of times they work late hours or come in early, so what forms of protection are available for the New Hope staff?

“They don’t have any security at their new place, so we’re setting them up with door alarms,” Johnson said. “We’re setting them up with pepper spray in the back room. We went over options of escape if something went sideways while they’re sitting at their desk. It’s a wide open office and they have cubicles, so we gave them some ideas to reinforce the training they already have.”

The war on domestic violence and sexual assault got a little bit stronger with the united efforts of Damsel in Defense and New Hope.