KATHMANDU, June 11: Around 11 visually impaired women recently finished a 10 day self defense workshop. ‘Fight Back’, a workshop by Paritran Risk Management, prepares women for basic and easy to learn but effective techniques that will come in handy during confrontational situations.
Prasiddha Pokhrel, Director of Paritran, states that visually impaired women run a higher risk of harassment because they have a difficult time identifying their assailant.[break]
The workshop is a culmination of a session of ‘My Story’, which is part of ChangeFusion Nepal’s Youth Action Fund Program. Sarita Lamichhane, 24, took to the stage with her story of harassment inside a public vehicle and it gripped Luna Shrestha Thakur, director of ChangeFusion Nepal.
Sarita was travelling in a crowded micro bus when she felt a man trying to touch her inappropriately. When she confronted him, he not only refused to own up but insisted that she was mistaken. “He also said that we have this habit of blaming others when we can’t see what’s going on and just because someone touches us doesn’t mean that they are doing it intentionally,” Sarita says.
Luna says, “When Sarita shared her experience with us, I was shocked and happy. The first reaction of shock was due to the fact that I didn’t think the problem existed to such an extent, and I was happy that instead of squashing the incident, she spoke up. Most people endure harassment and keep quiet, and seeing Sarita break that norm was very inspiring,”
Visually impaired women practice their moves during the self defense classes at Paritran where they learnt how to fight back attackers. The workshop was held for 10 days.
This led to an internet search on what could be done to help Sarita and her friends. “It was as if there was no such program in all of South Asia that could be of help. That’s when I found out about Paritran through SMASH,” says Luna.
An acronym for ‘Stop Molestation and Sexual Harassment’, SMASH coordinated the workshop between Paritran and ChangeFusion Nepal. The workshop started group of 13 women from Lalitpur Association of the Blind and it was held every afternoon from 2 to 5pm. ChangeFusion Nepal is the main sponsor of the workshop for which Paritran has helped by providing discount.
On a Wednesday, which is the sixth day of the training, the women are standing neatly in line following instructions from their trainer and some assistants. They are energetic and smile as they learn to use their walking canes as a weapon.
“We’ve learnt how to use our hands to attack the aggressor on the face and groin. The workshop also teaches us how to block blows and to protect our face and head. We’ve also learnt a few techniques that will be helpful if in case someone tries to rape us,” says Sarita.
Sarita, who is currently studying Masters in Nepali from Tribhuwan University, believes it’s important that everyone learn how to defend themselves as one never knows when a difficult situation may arise. It’s best to be prepared, she points out.
‘Fight Back’ was initially a workshop open for all women, says Vikrant Raj Pandey, Director of Marketing at Paritran. It was designed with the help of martial art trainers, boxers, army experts.
“After ChangeFusion Nepal approached us, we sat down and adapted the whole workshop to make it practical and effective for our new trainees. It was a huge challenge,” he says. A few meetings and a month later, the workshop was ready to begin. Pandey, who is one of the trainers, says that improvising with fighting weapons, disarming techniques are some of the fight methods they’re training the women in.
“We also teach them to develop a combative mindset, confident body language and assertive communication. These things are very helpful,” he says.
Pokhrel states, “Basically we teach them easy to learn and hard to forget techniques so that they will remember it even after a short course. This is a no frills attached, highly effective real scenario based training. It not only empowers them, but has also improved their fitness in many ways. The trainees are welcome to come back for refresher course every once a week.”
With the conclusion of the workshop, the trainees want to start coaching their friends. Chairman of Lalitpur Association of the Blind, Dawa Sherpa feels that their trainer is very blind friendly. “The course was adapted for us and so it’s very easy to learn. Now we have to continue practicing and after we feel we’re ready, we will also teach our friends,” she says.
General Member of Lalitpur Association of the Blind, Dipika Sharma says she was interested in learning self defense because harassment is common while travelling or walking on the streets. Now she is confident that should anything happen when she is walking at night, she can handle it. “Our confidence has grown a lot in the six days,” she says.
Dawa adds, “Now if anyone attacks us we will not let them get away with it easily.”
Luna too has seen the difference in the confidence level of the women. She was present during the first day of the training and she could see that the women were scared. However, when she went back after a couple of days, the transformation she saw was huge.
Sarita sums it up, “I had to courage to retaliate before and I just didn’t know how to go about it. Here we learn not only about the physical techniques we can use but the power of being verbal.”
Related story
Six ways to protect yourself
