Sister Courage Feminist Self Defence

While public awareness of gender violence and misogyny has improved in the last decade, there is still a gulf between men and women’s safety from harassment and sexually motivated violence. And while we wait for male accountability to become the norm, providing options for women in situations of threat is still a useful part of the conversation on male violence.

And it should not replace continual work from men on their culture of entitlement and violence.

Ideally we need to see a shift away from the male entitlement position of a woman's safety being her responsibility towards that of women's rights being everyone's responsibility. And while we wait for this, the aim of this self defence class is simple:

*become aware of the harmful behaviours,actions and conversations from those around us that do not support us as women, or are in fact downright objectification and abuse

*identify a toolbox of options in those situations, because all women have different experiences

*work out how to use what we are comfortable with in the situation

*talk to others about what happened, or at least witness it ourselves.

No two women are the same, and no situation is identical, so simply telling a person what they “should have done” is simply reverting to victim blaming, and once again making the woman responsible again.

And so also a wider toolbox of options is needed because self defence starts way before a slap or a punch or a direct assault. It starts with the everyday grind of cat calling, of verbal micro aggressions or unfunny jokes and assumptions that undermine us and take away our personal power.

The message is simple. No assault is ever the victim's fault.

In the SIX WEEKS COURSE we will explore verbal techniques for diverting or disrupting awkward or challenging conversation; situational awareness and body language for analysing potential conflict; spotting and managing entitlement and misogyny;and yes, an awful lot of making our bodies stronger through physical evasions, striking and fighting techniques while using our voice to claim our space.

I have been running courses now for eight years and use all of my thirty years of matrial arts and self defence experience with the aim being to provide a safe and supportive space for women to practice safety skills that have long been denied them

Any questions at all? 07813006569 is the number to call or email sistercourageousmail@gmail.com