Workshops
Victim or Victorious
Have you experienced any form of attack? Are you eager to empower yourself? Have you thought about learning self-defence?
David Morenne, a reformed armed robber, motivational speaker, pastor and author of “Guilty as charged – A danger to society,” will be joining us at the workshop. David will join Principal Instructor Sanette Smit in discussion before the practical self-defence session starts.
This interactive workshop is supported by Lead SA and a portion of proceeds will go towards sponsoring a self-defence workshop in Khayelitsha.
Date: Saturday 22 June 2019
Time: 09:00 – 12:00
Venue: Sports Science Institute, Boundry Road, Newlands
School’s Safety Project
According to Provincial Social Service departments nationwide there is an escalating threat to the general safety of girls within and outside the home environment and sadly this threat has spilled over into classrooms and school grounds.
The Schools Safety Project is a life skills programme that is age-adapted to accommodate learners from Grade 1 to Grade 12. Although project is currently based in the Western Cape and the team travels to the schools requiring the training, the programme is available to all South African Schools.
The Stay Safe Schools Projects aims to:
Teach girls to recognize and speak out against all forms of mental and physical abuse
Develop safety awareness practices from a young age
Empower girls by teaching them basic self defence techniques
Offer girls options and choices when the need arises to defend themselves
Many South African schoolgirls are at high risk for rape, sexual abuse and other forms of harassment at schools, leaving them vulnerable to HIV, pregnancy and other diseases. Without some form of self-defence training, they are limited in their ability to defend themselves.
According to the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention’s National School Violence Study conducted in 2015/16, 15.3% of children at primary and secondary schools had experienced some form of violence while at school. A 2016 sexual violence study conducted by Action Aid SA and partner organizations revealed that young girls were desperate to empower themselves in their fight against sexual violence in the school environment. Statistics reveal that one out of every 3 girls has been subjected to some form of threat to her personal safety.
Safety skills training can help girls defend themselves, not only in their schools, but also on their way to and from school, and in their communities.
We require donations and sponsorships to fund the ongoing training of school girls to help them build their confidence, awareness, and self-defence skills to a level that is of practical use.
To find out how you or your organisation can help, please email us for our Projects Prospectus.
Special Needs Programmes
Children and adults with special needs are some of the most vulnerable people when it comes to violence and abuse. In fact, special needs children fall into the top five categories of children who experience the highest rates of abuse. These self-defence empowerment programmes are aimed specifically at children and adults with special needs; techniques are adapted to suit each situation and physical challenge.
Our main instructors, Sanette Smit and Margaret Neethling, have completed an international special needs training course and with many special needs workshops already under their belts, are well able to equip these vulnerable members of society to better protect themselves.
We require donations and sponsorships to fund the ongoing training of differently-abled girls and women to help them build their confidence, awareness, and self-defence skills to a level that is of practical use.
To find out how you or your organisation can help, please email us for our Projects Prospectus.
Stay Safe Women’s Roadshow
The Stay Safe Women’s Roadshow, a programme aimed at teenagers and women, conducts self-protection training to address the ever-increasing violence against women in the country. It equips girls aged 15 and upwards with the necessary tools to defend themselves; it also empowers them with a wide range of general safety practices to keep them safe at home, at work, and at play.
Sexual violence and reported incidents of rape in South Africa is among the highest in the world. South African Police Service statistics reveal that 42,596 rapes (average of 116 per day) were reported in 2015/2016, with 51,895 (average of 142 per day) reports of sexual offences committed in the same period. This is a gross misrepresentation as it is estimated that only 1 out of every 9 rapes is actually reported.
The Stay Safe Women’s Roadshow focuses primarily on women in previously disadvantaged urban and rural areas and, as such, can be attended at no cost to them. Any woman can be attacked at any time, anywhere, and the Women’s Roadshow project means that the Stay Safe team travels to communities all over South Africa teaching women that they can protect themselves if they learn a handful of self-defence techniques and develop basic safety awareness skills.
We require donations and sponsorships to take the Stay Safe Women’s Roadshow to the communities that need it most – where abuse and rape is at its highest or where women and teenagers are most vulnerable.
To find out how you or your organisation can help, please email us for our Projects Prospectus.
Train the Trainer
The Train the Trainer project is aimed at training young and enthusiastic trainers and facilitators to run self-defence training courses and workshops in their own communities. A comprehensive Train the Trainer Manual has already been compiled to cover all aspects of instruction from voice command, presentation and interpersonal skills, to step-by-step technical and practical self-defence instruction.
From a survey conducted by Self Defence Workshops, a database of potential instructors has been compiled and suitable candidates have been identified for training. All of the prospective trainees have little or no experience in the field of self-defence instruction, but are passionate about the empowerment of women and the need to break the pattern of violence against women.
Many of them have been victims of sexual abuse or are rape survivors and feel that a Self Defence Instruction Qualification will:
Provide them with the credibility to present workshops;
Provide job creation in the form of administrators/floor assistants;
Provide an opportunity to empower the women in their own communities;
Contribute to reducing the risk of abuse/rape in their communities.
The Trainer the Trainer programme will ultimately provide a network of qualified self-defence instructors who are able to reach a far broader base of women in communities across the country, in a more cost-effective manner.
We require donations and sponsorships to help more women protect themselves through empowering women in the communities to become trainers via our Train the Trainer Project.
To find out how you or your organisation can help, please email us for our Projects Prospectus.