1
www.welshwomensaid.org.uk
The role of self-defence in preventing violence against women
Tuesday 6 February 2018
2Introduction
Eleri ButlerCEO, Welsh Women’s Aid
3The role of self-defence in preventing VAWG
Irene Zeilinger
The role of self-defence
in preventing
violence against women
Irene Zeilinger, Garance ASBL
6 February 2017, Cymorth i Ferched Cymru / Welsh Women's Aid
Garance : who we are
A feminist NGO in
French-speaking Belgium
Mission: primary
prevention of gender-
based violence
Team: 10 employees, ± 20
volunteers
Activities: workshops,
training, research,
publications
Why self-defence?
« I declare to you that
woman must not
depend upon the
protection of man, but
must be taught to
protect herself, and
there I take my
stand. »
Susan B. Anthony
Why self-defence?
Self-defence, armed or unarmed, in the hands
of any oppressed group is a means of
insurrection (Dorlin 2017):
To defend yourself, you have to value your self.
To defend yourself, you have to overcome power
inequalities and stereotypes.
To defend yourself is to reclaim the right to exist and
to live without violence.
Feminist self-defence is not:
Becoming a
superheroine with
extraordinary
powers
Feminist self-defence is not:
Becoming an
aggressive,
frustrated, hateful
woman
Feminist self-defence is not:
Becoming just
like men
A short history of self-defence
The birth of self-defence for women is linked to :
Urbanisation, women's employment outside the house
Japanism and colonialism
The women's movement
The physical culture movement
1905 : Edith Garrud opens her own dojo in London
1913 : WSPU announces that all militants are trained in SD
A short history of self-defence
Fude Yamashita,
JP/US
Florence Le Mar, NZ
Nobatake Yaeko, JP
Edith Garrud,
UK
Emily Waters, UK
A short history of self-defence
After WWI, women's self-defence survived in
police entertainment military
A short history of self-defence
The rebirth of feminist self-defence : 1969 (Cell 16, Boston)
Creation : feminists involved in MA created their own SD
system (e.g. Sunny Graff, Py Bateman)
Reappropriation : feminists involved in SD got fed up by
sexist male instructors and broke away (e.g. Wendo, Modle
Mugging)
A short history of self-defence
1970s: creation and reappropriation, demand is high
1980s: diversification, networking and transfer
1990s: backlash
– Against the women's movement
– Within the women's movement
– Commercial/institutional competition
Since 2000: reemergence and scientific fundament
A short history of self-defence
Stichting Kenau, NL 1981
SD class 1979, NZ
SD class, New York
1981
Py Bateman Lydia Zijdel & Wendy Dragonfire
What is feminist self-defence?
As divergent from other practices such as martial arts, combat
sports, assertiveness training... for women (Channon & Mathews
2015):
aims to prevent VAWG, help victims/survivors recover
challenges gender norms and rape culture
takes into account the specificity of VAWG
includes role play with mock attackers
grounded in feminist pedagogy
men typically absent or in limited role
What is feminist self-defence?
Based on its contents and methods (Kelly & Sharp 2016):
accurate information on VAWG
critical thinking on gender, power, intersections
central concept of boundaries
use of voice, body language and physical power
prevention strategies and verbal SD
simple, accessible and efficient physical SD techniques
empowerment – women choose – reducing guilt
What is feminist self-defence?
Four main differences to mainstream
SD for women (Thompson 2014):
Collective approach
Attribution of sole responsibility to
attackers
Focus on the embodiment of
power
Broad range of mental, emotional,
verbal and physical tools
FSD and the gender order
Gender order as major obstacle to women resisting violence
Narratives, e.g. « rape script », stranger danger...
Stereotypes, e.g. female vulnerability and male danger
Embodiment
Structural and symbolic inequality
FSD allows women to challenge the gender order, to develop the
sense that VAWG is neither normal nor deserved and to change
their mental representations of power and space.
The impact of self-defence
Psychological impacts:
Fear changes in quantity and
quality
General anger decreases, specific
anger increases
Self-image and body image improve
Self-efficacy increases (SD-related
and general)
Rape-myth beliefs decrease
The impact of self-defence
Impact on victimisation:
NL : FSD participants reported fewer instances of harassment, sexual
and physical violence (van Baarsen & van der Plicht 1995)
FSD participants at a US university reported less (attempts of) sexual
violence (Hollander 2014)
Kenya : sexual assault rate in FSD trained high-school girls decreased
from 18% to 11% (Sinclair et al. 2014)
All forms of sexual violence decreased in Canadian university students
after FSD training (Senn et al. 2015)
The impact of self-defence
Impact on victims/survivors:
Victims/survivors participate in SD at least in equal proportions.
Primary prevention : improves self-confidence, awareness,
assertiveness
Secondary prevention : helps name violence, provides a safe space
for disclosure, overcomes isolation
Tertiary prevention : contributes to processing and healing
Decreases PTSD symptom severity
FSD seems to have no or decreasing impact on victim blame
Feminists against self-defence
Since the late 1980s, some feminists criticise SD for :
building on and increasing women's fear
victim blaming
making women just as violent as men
individualising/depoliticising VAWG
being neoliberal
None of these are true, but SD still has never found the same
traction as rape crisis or women's shelters. WHY?
The problems of self-defence
In spite of its promise to reduce VAWG, just like primary prevention in
general, FSD lacks public recognition and support in :
International human rights instruments
National anti-VAWG policies
VAWG research
Public and private funding
Consequences : FSD teachers drop out, training of new teachers is
difficult or unavailable, FSD is marginalised, invisible and inaccessible
What can you do?
What we did in Belgium :
Be everywhere, knowledgeable and reliable
Repeat the primary-prevention message continuously
Develop strategic partnerships with feminist victim service organisations
Advocate to get FSD into national and international policy papers and
build on it
Do your own research and publications
Obtain core funding
Diversify into new topics, publics, partnerships
Imagine a world...
... where every woman, every girl is able
and dares to say no
... where every woman, every girl knows
how to save herself from violence
... where we all have the confidence in
our capacity to take care of our own
safety
Plus d'informations
Garance ASBL
Bld du Jubilé 155
1080 Bruxelles
www.garance.be
T/F: 02 216 61 16
2929Welsh Women’s Aid, Pendragon House,Caxton Place, Pentwyn, Cardiff, CF23 8XE
02920 541 [email protected]@llinellgymorthbywhebofn.cymru
Registered Charity number 1140962
@welshwomensaid
www.welshwomensaid.org.uk