POWER FOR WOMEN SELF DEFENCE

On International Women’s Day I celebrate the women and girls who have had a powerful impact on my life (one of them even gave birth to me!). From my grandmother, to mother, aunties and sisters. To my nieces and my friends and colleagues and all the others I need to thank and remember and celebrate. And I’d like to just say one more thing - that I can’t believe women and girls are not looked after to the same degree as men. It’s just incomprehensible to me that this happens. It’s time for the world to get over this silliness. Get a brain. (Image courtesy of St Mary’s College, Liverpool)

Great initiative - Women Who Can - and proud to play a small part in its journey. 🙏

Self defence in heels and dresses. Is it doable? Well, we had a lot of fun trying to figure it out with the Women Who Can CIO launch party, which had around 140 great guests attending. My first time on a stage, first time using a mic, first time ‘teaching’ self defence whilst in a suit! Thanks Sadé for inviting us. Thanks Sade for setting up this absolutely marvellous initiative Women Who Can (I genuinely believe in what you’re doing and not just paying lip-service). And thank you Sade for just being great! If you would like to support or contribute to Sadé’s mission, or work with her, to empower women across the country then please check out her website or contact her on LinkedIn. https://lnkd.in/ekBzpyZs More pics to follow when I have them :)

The Fence is a self defence stance that works in so many ways to protect you (when under attack) but even more importantly it can prevent/block an attack from happening in the first place. It also makes it obvious for bystanders to see there’s something wrong and hopefully call for help. That is why it is an integral part of our self defence system and more and more people are learning about it and loving it. So today it was great to have about 50 students and staff at Motive8 Bradford Ltd College take a short self defence empowerment session, which included using The Fence to resist being grabbed or relocated. Being grabbed and/or being relocated are two of the five major things that happen to women when they are attacked so we always work on these in our sessions. Overall, we need an integral and multi-organisational approach to get a hold on Violence Against Women and Girls but in the meantime, whilst we wait for the government and education systems to become more effective, there’s no harm in learning a little self defence. Thanks again to Yorkshire Champion, Councillor Tracy Stones for helping out and pushing all the participants and keeping them on their toes! 😊 (P.S. there are not 50 people in the photo because some were a little camera shy! But at least you get to see The Fence). If you’d like to work with us then please get in touch. We have availability in 2025 or can push a couple of dates for November or December 24. Aviva. Nestlé. Hiscox. LNER LIMITED. Severfield. NatWest Group. Co-op. Coaches Saeed Younis, Naveed Younis and Hafiz Younis. Thanks to NatWest Business for supporting our endeavours. #womenempowerment #selfprotection #VAWG #workingwomen #socialimpact #womensselfdefence

Professor Helen Pankhurst OBE taking The Fence position. This is the strongest position to resist against any physical conflict and is the basis for a large part of our self defence system at Power For Women. Helen is an advocate and activist for women’s rights across the world, just like her great-grandmother and Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and her grandmother Sylvia Pankhurst. It is great to be aligned with someone of her stature and enthusiasm in the world of gender equality.

Super-great to have Professor Helen Pankhurst reading our book Introducing Women’s Self Defence. As an advocate and lifelong activist for gender equality across the world it means a lot for us to be aligned with her. Helen is the great-granddaughter of the amazing and brave Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, both key influencers of the Suffragette movement and the progressive rights of women. Helen even kindly said it was good work we were doing at Power For Women. Which was nice to hear. 😊

I don’t really like poetry and don’t really ‘get it’. That’s a very uneducated comment by me because I’ve not experienced all poetry, have I? And isn’t music ‘poetry’? Anyway… …this piece by Caitlin O’Ryan hit me and ‘I got it’. It’s quite profound and everyone should have a listen, and share with your mates if you think that’s a good thing to do. I’ll type up the lyrics and post them later when I get time.

1 out of every 12 women in the U.K. is assaulted or harassed every single year. That’s a lot, right? Walk outside for a bit and count every woman and girl who goes past. Yep, 1 of the 12 you counted has been harassed or assaulted in this last year. That’s a wake-up call if I ever heard one. It’s time to take notice of this as a society and do something about it. So I just wanted to do a shoutout to Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire and all her staff, including West Yorkshire's Deputy Mayor For Policing and Crime for their good work with Reclaim The Night and against VAWG. It felt great to be alongside you all and be a tiny part of this fight that people like Al have been on since the 70’s. What an inspiration she is. It’s sad to see that not much has changed in that time but it’s great to see the fight is back on. Al is someone who is a real icon we all need to know more about and hear more from. Her words resonate, so please do have a listen to her when you can. It’s worth it. I’m not sure of the names of the other organisers and speakers at the walk but they again had serious impact. I think these are the beginnings of a rising battle against VAWG. I think we can make the change this time and not stay in the 1970’s anymore. So let’s all jump onto this train and turn it into the juggernaut it needs to be for our families and sisters and mothers and daughters and nieces and friends - so they are all safer for the rest of their lives. I think things are going to get better - but we need everyone’s input in this so join in wherever you can, please. 🙏 Special thanks to Coucillor Tracy Stones for your continuous support and encouragement. #reclaimthenight #vawg #powerforwomen

Our Student Classes Resume at York St. John University on Monday. Come along, bring a friend and tell your fellow students.