Self-defence centre seeks to empower women with disabilities

AMMAN — SheFighter, established in 2010, provides self-defence courses for women with disabilities.

SheFighter is the first self-defence centre designed to empower women both mentally and physically through self-defence techniques in Jordan, according to its founder Lina Khalifeh.

Khalifeh has more than 17 years of experience in practicing martial arts such as taekwondo, kick-boxing and kung fu.

According to the SheFighter website, the centre offers courses for women of all ages, whether online or in person.

SheFighter partnered with hundreds of international non-profit organisations to provide training for those who need it the most, the website said.

“Since everything has become virtual nowadays, we have SheFighter trainers all over the world. We are collaborating with an organisation for people with Down syndrome in Seattle, Washington, and we have been providing self-defence courses online for them,” Khalifeh told The Jordan Times in an e-mail interview. 

Khalifeh noted that she started the SheFighter self-defence training for women with disabilities because “they usually encounter more harassment and are abused by ill-intentioned people”.

“Unfortunately, people with disabilities have more fear because they do not know what to do in dangerous situations. They may feel that they cannot do much because of their disability, but that is only because they never received any proper training,” Khalifeh said.

The training started with an intensive two-day workshop for people with disabilities.

“We started these courses before the pandemic, we were disrupted due to COVID-19, but now we are continuing our training virtually with people with Down syndrome and it is a great success until now,” Khalifeh added.

Enas Khalifeh, a SheFighter trainer, indicated that the centre has had many training courses for different people in need.

“We had projects with King Hussein Cancer Foundation, Princess Taghreed Institution, UNHCR, and much more. Training various women brings great joy, as they come out of the training feeling more confident and motivated, after facing many hardships in life. The courses help not only physically but mentally as well,” Khalifeh, the trainer, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday.

Unfortunately, regular gyms are not equipped to host women with disabilities, she added, pointing out "that is why we wanted to try and provide such training courses in different places where they would be able to train and learn how to defend themselves".

"Everyone has some type of power, and we help them discover it, which makes them feel better. We aim to make our trainings as comfortable and safe as possible, we only have female trainers so that the women would feel more comfortable,” the trainer noted.