in two weeks time, on Saturday 15 October, local women will be able to attend a self-defence class. The event is being organised by Michelle Uren in partnership with Fight back SA. Gazette caught up with her and asked why she decided to organise this specific workshop.
What made you decide to organise this event?
As a rape survivor I made the decision to learn self-defence to empower myself. Learning self-defence helped me become mentally stronger and it helped me develop situational awareness. The training played a massive role in changing how I stopped seeing myself as a victim, but rather as a survivor. Before my rape, I had this belief that the kind of torture and violence I experienced whilst being raped was something that only happened to others. I made the mistake of assuming it would not happen to me. The reality in South Africa is very different. Now more than ever with Gender Based Violence is at a record high! South Africa has one of the highest rape statistics in the world, even higher than some countries at war.
My former training partner, Jennifer Rorke, and I had a common goal to use our life stories to help other women. Jennifer sadly passed away in July 2020 from breast cancer before we could turn our dream into reality. I want to honour her through this workshop. I am passionate about wanting to help other women in my community and show them that they can fight back. I want to empower others and teach them that if someone wants to hurt them that they can learn skills in order to defend themselves. Fighting back is as much a physical fight as it is a mental one and the training prepares women for both.
After moving to Robertson I was attacked again in June 2019 by two men in our garden in the early hours of the morning. The men were in the garden stealing the avos and I had gone outside to take our dog for a wee. I was caught completely by surprise. The men held a knife to my throat and tried to get me to let them inside to give them money and phones. This time round, I was able to defend myself.
Do you mind elaborating on the link among substance abuse, delinquency and criminal behaviour?
Various studies have shown that youth who persistently abuse substances often experience an array of problems, including dropping out of school, poor peer relationships, and involvement with the juvenile justice system. Substance abuse is associated with both violent and income-generating crimes. Drug abuse among African youths makes them vulnerable to numerous threats. Many easily succumb to crime and violence. Various studies have shown a direct link between the impact of tik and alcohol on certain types of crime such as possession and dealing in stolen property, theft, and housebreaking. Methamphetamine use and alcohol abuse have been associated with violence, including intimate partner or domestic violence.
Tik use has been described as appealing to youth because it provides a sense of belonging and community as well as excitement and relief from boredom in an environment where young people may feel they lack future prospects. At the same time drug and alcohol use is used as a way to deal with daily life stresses, including abuse in the home, bad relationships, or unemployment.
Take us through the workshop summary on 15 October.
The workshop is being presented by Fight Back SA, a non-profit organisation focusing on providing empowering and life saving skills to young women and children who live in high risk and crime-ridden areas.
The two-hour workshop will learn some of the following skills:. Avoid being the target.. What to do if you are attacked?. Submission and de-escalation.. Reactions in an emergency. Anti-trafficking self-defence technique. Domestic violence self-defence technique. Anti-rape technique. Pepper-spray information. Pepper-spray hand-outs
We reiterate through all the classes that one should never fight for their possessions. However, when an attacker wants to harm, or force a physical exchange with the person, that is when we teach them to fight.
Who should participate in the workshop?
The workshop is open to any women or young girl aged 13 years or older who is wanting to learn self-defence skills.
Who do people contact in order to register for the workshop?
To purchase tickets, follow payment link below:
There will be no ticket sales on the day of the workshop. For any enquiries, contact Michelle on 072 122 5192.
Will there be regular workshops after this event?
We hope to be able to hold future workshops depending on the response to this one.
Lastly, I would like to thank Robertson Primary School for allowing us to use the school premises to host the workshop and to Fight Back SA and their instructors for giving the women in our community the opportunity to learn life saving skills. The workshop starts at 10:30.
