International Standards and Regulations for Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) Professionals
This comprehensive document establishes global standards for professionalism, safety, and accountability in Empowerment Self-Defense, supporting instructors and others in advancing a unified and ethical ESD industry.
Introduction
Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) professionals worldwide share a mission of preventing and interrupting violence through empowerment-based self-defense training. With the growth of the ESD field as a global industry and movement, there is a need for unified standards of compliance to define professional conduct, competency, and accountability. This document serves as a comprehensive industry regulations framework tailored for ESD professionals, providing guidance to individual practitioners, certification and training providers, and oversight authorities. It integrates mandatory legal regulations with voluntary industry best practices, ensuring clarity in ethical obligations, safety standards, and credentialing requirements across diverse regions. The aim is to promote a well-recognized global standard of professionalism and competence for ESD instructors, trainers, program providers, researchers, and advocates. This guide also supports the Credentialing and Accreditation initiatives of the IAESDP by outlining the expectations for quality and integrity in ESD practice, thereby engendering public trust and safety in the field.
Purpose and Scope
Purpose: This document establishes an international compliance and standards framework for ESD professionals. It is designed to inform practitioners of their responsibilities, support organizations that certify or train ESD instructors, and provide clear reference points for agencies or authorities overseeing ESD programs. By consolidating ethics codes, competency standards, legal obligations, and accreditation criteria, the guide helps ensure that ESD services are delivered safely, ethically, and effectively worldwide. It also aids certifying bodies in aligning their credentialing programs with recognized standards, and helps external stakeholders (such as schools, NGOs, or government bodies) understand the professional benchmarks for ESD providers. This framework meets ISO 17024 and NCCA norms.
Scope: The standards in this guide are globally applicable to ESD professionals in various roles – including instructors, instructor-trainers, curriculum developers, program administrators, and allied professionals in violence prevention. It addresses the needs of:
- Individual ESD Professionals and Organizations: (e.g. instructors/practitioners, organizations, businesses, or programs that teach ESD) – outlining ethical conduct, core competencies, curriculum guidelines, and continuing professional development expectations.
- Training Providers: (schools, organizations, or programs that train and certify ESD instructors) – detailing program accreditation standards, curriculum guidelines, and trainer qualifications.
- Certifying Bodies: (credentialing committees) – describing governance, impartiality, and processes for credentialing and upholding standards.
- Oversight Authorities: (regulatory agencies, educational institutions, funding bodies, etc.) – offering clarity on what constitutes compliant and credible ESD practice for evaluation or partnership purposes.
The guide provides universal principles and requirements in the main sections, while recognizing regional differences. Specific regulatory or cultural considerations for certain regions (e.g. U.S., EU, Asia-Pacific) are addressed in appendices. This structure allows local adaptation of the global standards without compromising the core values that define Empowerment Self-Defense internationally.
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