The Center for Respect

The Center for Respect is a United States-based organization focused on preventing sexual assault, improving consent education, promoting bystander intervention, and supporting survivors. It was founded in 2003 by educator, author, activist, and publisher Mike Domitrz after his sister was sexually assaulted. The organization developed from Domitrz's earlier educational work on sexual-assault awareness, which began in the early 1990s following the assault of his sister in 1989. The organization was formerly known as the Date Safe Project. Under that name, it became associated with the message that consent should be based on clear communication rather than assumption or mind-reading. Its signature educational approach encouraged people to ask before initiating intimate contact, a concept presented through seminars and talks including “Can I Kiss You?” The program was designed to make conversations about consent accessible to teenagers, college students, adults, military personnel, and community audiences. The Center for Respect provides prevention programs, training, keynote presentations, consulting, and educational materials. Its audiences include middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities, community organizations, businesses, professional associations, and the United States military. Programs address sexual-assault awareness, healthy dating, consent, bystander action, respect in relationships, and ways to respond to and support survivors of rape and other sexual violence. For military and educational institutions, the organization has delivered presentations intended to help participants recognize the importance of asking for consent and intervening when situations may become unsafe. For employers and associations, the organization frames its work more broadly as building a culture of respect in which individuals are valued and expected to treat one another responsibly. This extends the organization’s focus beyond dating and sexual assault to workplace conduct, interpersonal responsibility, and organizational culture. Its educational model links direct communication and respect with the prevention of sexual violence and the development of healthier relationships. The organization has also supported survivor-centered awareness work. The Voices of Courage Project features accounts from 12 sexual-assault survivors describing their experiences, trauma, and journeys toward living as survivors. The material was made available in print and audio formats, with survivors reading their own chapters in the audio edition. The project combines personal testimony with public education and is intended to increase understanding of sexual violence while supporting prevention and survivor recognition. The Center for Respect’s work has reached audiences through school and military events, public speaking, media interviews, books, and other educational resources. Referenced military engagements included Army, Air Force, and Navy personnel, while public reporting also described presentations at bases and educational institutions. The organization’s brand identity therefore combines professional training and speaking services with a social-impact mission centered on consent, prevention, survivor support, and respectful relationships.

The Center for Respect emerged from Mike Domitrz’s long-term work in sexual-assault awareness and consent education. Domitrz began working as an educator in this area in 1991, after his older sister was sexually assaulted in 1989. His personal connection to the issue shaped an educational approach that sought to make prevention practical and understandable rather than treating sexual violence only as an abstract social problem. In 2003, Domitrz formally established the organization that became The Center for Respect. It was initially known as the Date Safe Project. The organization’s early public identity was strongly associated with the “Can I Kiss You?” presentation and related seminars. These programs promoted the principle that people should ask before initiating intimate contact. The approach presented consent as an active conversation and challenged the assumption that people could accurately infer another person’s wishes without asking. The Date Safe Project worked with young people in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, while also reaching adult and military audiences. Its programs addressed sexual-assault awareness, dating, consent, healthy relationships, bystander intervention, and support for survivors. The organization later worked with the United States Army, Air Force, and Navy, as well as military bases and training settings. Public descriptions of these engagements show an effort to adapt consent education to institutions with distinct responsibilities, hierarchies, and prevention requirements. Alongside prevention presentations, the organization developed survivor-centered educational resources. The Voices of Courage Project brought together 12 survivors of sexual assault to describe their experiences and paths toward survival and healing. The resource was offered as a paperback and as audio recordings read by the survivors themselves. This format gave personal testimony a central role while helping audiences understand the continuing effects of sexual violence and the importance of supporting survivors. The organization’s work expanded beyond schools and military installations. For businesses and professional associations, it offered keynote presentations and consulting intended to help create a culture of respect. In this setting, the central message concerned the equal value of employees, responsible interpersonal conduct, and organizational environments in which respect is expected and practiced. The Center for Respect also published educational materials addressing sexual-assault awareness and domestic violence. The organization’s public work generated media coverage and interviews, including reporting on its youth, survivor, and military programs. Over time, its identity shifted from the Date Safe Project toward The Center for Respect, reflecting a broader scope than dating-safety education alone. The current name encompasses consent, prevention, bystander action, survivor support, and respect-oriented training for institutions and workplaces. Available reference material does not establish detailed financial information, corporate ownership, a public listing, or a complete roster of current executives.

• 2010

  Military prevention work received coverage

  [1]The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org

  Reference material documented the organization’s consent and sexual-assault-prevention presentations for military personnel and installations.

• 2005

  Voices of Courage survivor resource

  [1]The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org

  The Voices of Courage Project presented the experiences and healing journeys of 12 sexual-assault survivors in print and audio formats.

• 2003

  Organization founded

  [1]The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org

  Domitrz founded the organization that was initially known as the Date Safe Project and later became The Center for Respect.

• 1991

  Domitrz began sexual-assault awareness education

  [1]The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org

  Mike Domitrz began working as an educator on sexual-assault awareness, developing the foundation for the later organization.

• 1989

  Founder’s sister was sexually assaulted

  [1]The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org

  The assault of Mike Domitrz’s older sister became the personal catalyst for his later work in sexual-assault awareness and prevention.

A consent-education and sexual-assault prevention organization that uses direct communication, asking-first practices, bystander intervention, survivor-centered education, and respect-focused organizational training.

• Consent-education presentation · 1991

  Can I Kiss You?

  A signature presentation and seminar format centered on asking for consent before initiating a kiss or other intimate contact. It uses clear communication as a practical alternative to guessing another person’s intentions and has been presented to teenagers, college students, adults, and military audiences.

• Survivor education resource · 2005

  Voices of Courage Project

  A collection of accounts from 12 sexual-assault survivors describing their experiences, trauma, and paths toward healing and survival. The resource was distributed in paperback and audio formats, with survivors reading their own chapters in the audio edition.

• Training and consulting

  Culture of Respect programs

  Keynotes, training, and consulting for businesses, associations, schools, community organizations, and other institutions. The programs focus on valuing individuals, strengthening respectful conduct, improving consent awareness, and creating environments less tolerant of sexual violence and interpersonal abuse.

• 2005Voices of Courage Project

  United States

  A survivor-centered awareness project shared the experiences of 12 people who had been raped and later identified as survivors, combining testimony, education, and messages about healing.

  Outcome. The accounts were made available in paperback and audio forms to support sexual-violence awareness and survivor support.

  Source
• 1991Can I Kiss You?

  United States · International

  The organization’s core consent-education campaign promoted asking before initiating intimate contact and used the question of whether to kiss someone as an accessible entry point for discussing consent, communication, and healthy dating.

  Outcome. The presentation became a recurring educational format for youth, higher-education, community, and military audiences.

  Source

• 2003

  Formalized a dedicated prevention organizationStrategy

  Background

  Following years of educational work motivated by a family experience of sexual assault, Mike Domitrz established a formal organization to deliver prevention and awareness programs.

  Action taken

  The Date Safe Project was created to provide presentations, educational materials, and survivor-support resources.

  Aftermath

  The organization expanded its audiences to schools, universities, community groups, businesses, and the United States military.

  Source

• Broadened identity to The Center for RespectStrategy

  Background

  The organization’s work extended beyond dating-specific safety education to include workplace culture, institutional training, bystander intervention, and survivor support.

  Action taken

  The organization adopted the name The Center for Respect, while Date Safe Project remained a former name and alias.

  Aftermath

  The broader identity positioned the organization around respect and consent across educational, military, community, and workplace settings.

  Source

1. 1The Center for Respecten.wikipedia.org