The latest research by UN WOMEN shows that the majority of women and girls in the UK are experiencing sexual harassment in public spaces. Following the tragic story of Sarah Everard, many women took the streets of London last month to denounce gender violence. These events led many women to take part in self-defence classes to feel protected. But, should they be mandatory?
Rafael Nieto, 64, is the founder of Xen-Do, a martial arts school situated in London. His classes were first introduced to women back in the ‘80s whereas prior to that, there was only one woman attending. But recently, the rate of subscriptions increased.
‘We have 60% females in the classes,’ he says. ‘It always happens when there’s an incident, especially as horrific as it happened with this lady [Everard], that you get an influx of women who want to learn self-defence.’
Our editor-in-chief, Hanna-Lisa Leppänen, is a Finnish and Nordic Champion in technique, boxing and wrestling with three black belts. Hanna explains that Everard’s case was a turning point for women across London that goes beyond simple gender prejudices.
‘It made many women think about their safety more and probably lead to some women taking self-defence classes because you never know what’s going to happen,’ she says. ‘When I started martial arts, it was thought to be more like a men’s thing but I think that that’s not the case anymore and I can definitely see more women attending the classes.’
Although pepper spray, tasers and keychains may be a quicker and more efficient way to protect yourself, Rafael thinks that in stressful situations it’s better to attract attention. ‘I’m always teaching that the best form of defence is your voice,’ he says. ‘That’s why, when women are attacked, one of the things they’re told to do is to shout — Fire.’
Rafael also claims that the key element of self-defence is confidence which his professional instructors teach to every trainee.
‘Self-defence is about how you portray yourself, how you look. You try and portray yourself as strong, doesn’t matter what you are inside. It’s always what the other person thinks that’s more important.’
But, even if women are encouraged to learn how to protect themselves, should it be their responsibility when they’re attacked?
Says Hanna: ‘It’s a responsibility of the society we live in to make women feel safe and be safe and we know that many things need to change before that’s going to happen. With that being said, I do also believe that there is absolutely no harm knowing few basic things that can save your life someday.’
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