Self-Defense Workshops

During the months of May-June, 2014 Sayfty successfully provided it’s 1st self-defense workshop to 65 women at two 2-day (21 hours) self-defense workshops in a small town, Kadapa, in South India, and in Kanpur in north India. Sayfty’s founder, Dr. Shruti Kapoor, along with the participants learned the art of Wenlido – self-defense training for women.

In the words of our Founder

“It was truly empowering to help these women & myself re-discover our strength and confidence to fight against violence & sexual harassment. The biggest obstacle is actually getting the women excited to come, to convince them that they need this and that it will be beneficial for them. Their initial response to the workshops is apprehension. Most are hesitant to try things like this. They are wary and have low self-confidence. But at the end of the workshop, you see a radical transformation. They feel really happy, grateful, and believe that all women should learn these techniques.”

Dr. Kapoor explains that most of these women have been taught they don’t have a voice. They are taught to be quiet, keep their voices low, their heads down, and to be obedient. She explained that that within the first hour of the class, they learned how to break a brick with their own hand, which greatly helped women to overcome their insecurities:

“During the workshop, it was hard for some to even scream. When asked whether you think you can break a brick, the initial response is no. But the trainer taught them, and it was very liberating. Their level of confidence immediately rose.”

Women also discussed problems they face daily and enacted them through role-playing:

“Most women were not comfortable talking about sex, and others didn’t even know what sexual harassment even is. Through the role plays, we taught them how to set boundaries and how to address harassment like cat-calling. With the help of the techniques, we showed them moves that would get them out of a rape position. We also gave out pepper sprays to all the participants.”

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Here are some pictures from the Kadapa workshopWorkshop Pictures

Watch this testimonial video from one of our participants, sister Nancy

For more testimonial videos visithttps://www.youtube.com/user/Sayftycom/videos

Sayfty also provided basic self-defense training to 40 medical students in Kanpur (North India). They shared personal harassment stories, learned basic defense techniques on how to protect themselves from violence & practiced the same.

Here are some pictures from the Kanpur workshopKanpur Self Defense Workshop