'We want people to feel safe': More self-defence classes for women hosted by Al Rashid Mosque
A series of self-defence classes by women for women is once again being offered in Edmonton after hate-motivated crimes and incidents in the region.
Al Rashid Mosque is hosting classes introductory self-defence classes for women in August to help them feel safer when being in the community. For instructors Janan Jomha and Kaitlyn Molo, the hope is the skills the women learn never need to be used.
“We want people to feel safe,” Jomha said. “We want people to have the confidence to be in the community and feel like they belong. That’s what we should strive to do, especially here in Canada.
“First we teach them to use their voice, be vocal and try to de-escalate them before they become physical,” she added. “We focus a lot on body language, using our voice and using the community’s voice to shut down threatening situations.
“The goal of self-defence is to feel safe.”
Molo said many participants told them that they feel more comfortable and confident in themselves after completing the introductory training.
“We got really great feedback,” she said. “After they took that course many people said they felt more confident to go into their community spaces.”
The pair of instructors, based out of Elite Taekwondo Edmonton, say the number of women signing up for their self-defence classes is increasing. Jomha said many mothers and daughters are attending classes together so both learn self-defence skills to help each other.
- Alberta's funding to deter hate crimes 'should just be the beginning': Muslim group
- 'I shouldn't be afraid to say that I'm Jewish': Man says he was threatened on family's front lawn, EPS investigating anti-semitic incidents
Both of them believe the increase in the number of racially motivated incidents in the city is the reason for the uptake Jessica Snow, a participant in Sunday’s class, said she agreed.
“With all that’s in the news – visual minorities getting attacked, in many cases, they are women as well – more than ever there is a need to have that knowledge,” Snow said. “To have those tools in the back of your pocket.
“I think it’s always been something that’s been a good idea regardless of what age you are, but perhaps more so than ever today.”
- 'She was thrown to the ground': Police investigate attack on Muslim woman in Edmonton
- Edmonton Muslim family targeted in instance of road rage: police
- Charges laid after 3 hate-motivated assaults against women in Edmonton
Snow said she felt empowered by attending the class, especially since she was learning alongside fellow sisters.
“It’s good to know that you are not alone,” she added. “It creates a little bit of that community.”
Police continue to investigate a June attack in St. Albert where a masked man pushed two Muslim women to the ground while wielding a knife.
A Gurdwara in Mill Woods came forward a few weeks later saying they were receiving offensive deliveries of meat products to their place of worship and escalating threatening phone calls.
- St. Albert, Alta., RCMP investigating hate-motivated knife attack on 2 sisters wearing hijabs
- 'Alarming and of the utmost concern': Edmonton Sikh community speaks out over racist harassment
In June, Edmonton police told CTV News Edmonton that merely halfway through 2021, the city had already seen 44 hate-motivated incidents compared to 60 and 57 in the entirety of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Ultimately, Molo said while training is important and helpful it can’t solve every situation or incident.
“No amount of time or techniques can really truly prepare us for being a victim of a race-based or violent attack,” Molo said. “What we really do like to focus on is utilizing your voice to be assertive and concise and short with an attacker so you aren’t an easy target to them.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.