Niswa September, 2016 | Page 13

When Lina Khaleifeh’s college friend walked on campus bruised in the face and arms because of her father and brother’s abuse, Lina's anger was focused on her friend for not taking a stand and refusing to report it.

Around the world, women mostly choose silence over requesting help or retribution. Nearly 60% of all women survivors of violence do not seek any support whatsoever. The ones who speak up mostly turn to family and friends rather than hospitals and police stations.

Social acceptance of some forms of violence varies from one community to the other, but it continues to exist in many parts of the world. In many Arab communities, this acceptance makes it harder for women to speak up in fear of the social stigma attached to survivors, especially when subjected to sexual abuse or if they choose to speak up against perpetrators from the family.

Feeling strongly about the problem, Lina decided to do something about it. An experienced martial arts fighter, she started offering self-defense training to women at her house in 2010. She had a day job in the family business where she had a different taste of inequality at the time.

“I was in marketing. I was invisible. Nobody ever listened to me because I’m a woman,” Lina recalled about her work in her family's factories.

In less than two years, Lina had enough clientele to open her own place with a small loan from her father- a loan he was originally reluctant to give thinking she will not have enough clients to stay afloat because of the conservative culture. However, Lina’s martial arts gym, “SheFighter” thrived and soon even made headlines around Jordan attracting women from all walks of life and from diverse age groups from little girls to older women.

“I have a big vision for SheFighter to turn into a programme in every school in the country and around the world,” Lina said.

One after the other, Lina’s clients started doing more than opening up about violence. One young woman who trained with Lina was nearly raped in her own building a few years ago. After the initial shock, she broke the arm of her attacker and reported him. So did he for his broken arm and eventually she had to drop her complaint showing how much further the system needs to develop to better protect women. But for Lina, the fact that her client was not raped at the end of the day is exactly what she wanted to achieve through her classes: to give enough confidence and skills for women to stand up to themselves even if systems failed them.

“The work she does gives women confidence and a greater feeling of control over their lives – giving them a sense of empowerment, and with this awareness and courage to access resources and services to address issues of discrimination and violence, such as referral services and legal pathways.,” said Rachel Dore-Weeks, Recovery Specialist at UN Women Jordan country office.

SheFighter: Boxing to End Violence against Women

Photo: SheFighter

Photo: SheFighter

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