ON Saturday, the Durban North/uMhlanga Community Policing Forum (CPF) Youth Desk hosted a self-defence women’s empowerment workshop at the Glenashley Scout Hall.
The workshop, which incorporated practical skills, comes as South Africa observes the 16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children campaign.
The CPF youth desk, which was rekindled and re-launched in 2018, was established as a sub-forum for the youth within the CPF.
Shannon Ellis, chairwoman of the youth desk, said women from all age groups were a part of the workshop conducted by Danric Verster of CherDan Self-Defence.
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“The scourge of gender-based violence and femicide is a daily threat for all women. In uMhlanga, we have seen and heard of sexual assault cases being reported, and in light of that and the 16 Days of Activism, we decided to host this self-defence workshop. In the day and age we are living in, I feel all women need to be aware of the dangers out there. The Youth Desk wanted to bring that message home, and I’m pleased with how this class turned out. Ultimately, we want to strengthen programmatic approaches to accelerate the empowerment of women,” Ellis said.
Danric Verster, who led demonstrations on the day, said the aim was to educate women on being aware of their surroundings at all times.
“We want to change mindsets to a point where we always consider the three As: awareness, avoidance and action. So often nowadays, young people are far too engrossed in their phones and are unaware of their surroundings. I think we all learned how to get out of uncomfortable situations and focus on our actions to avoid being a victim,” he said.
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