Rajasthan government school teacher has imparted training to visually-impaired girls in self-defence
A government school teacher in Rajasthan's Alwar district is training disabled girls in self-defence, using specialised techniques. Asha Suman feels that these girls are more vulnerable to sexual assaults and therefore it is important to train them so that they can protect themselves if such a situation arises.
Ms Suman, 40, who teaches at a primary school at Kharkhada, Rajgarh in Alwar district of Rajasthan, started training girls facing various disabilities especially vision loss in 2015. She herself trained in self-defence under the state police. However, she shifted to Mumbai “on my own expenses” in 2019 to undergo a specialised training so that she can teach unarmed combat to disabled girls.
“Visually-impaired girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse. Therefore, it was required to train them in self-defence using specialised techniques,” Ms Suman told PTI.
Under this, punch, kick, forward and backward hand movement etc are taught which not only empower the girls to face a situation but also increase their confidence, she said.
“Daily activities like how they open a door, brush their teeth, climb a staircase etc are used as defence techniques. Through this method, they learn very quickly and are fully trained in a period of 10-12 days,” she added.
However, the techniques vary keeping in mind the various disabilities the girls suffer from, Ms Suman said. She has trained over 300 girls from different parts of Rajasthan in the past three years. A total of 55 disabled girls, including 11 visually-impaired girls, were given training in a government training camp in Jaipur from October 6 to 15, Ms Suman said.
Pooja Goswami, who came from Jodhpur to attend the training camp, said it was very easy to learn defence techniques and now she feels confident. Her mother said she always worried about Ms Pooja's safety when she went out alone, but “now I feel she can protect herself”.
Monika, a student of Class 12th from Alwar district, said, “I cannot see but still I can protect myself. If the attacker strikes me from behind, I can attack him with my elbow and if the attacker strikes from the front, I can protect myself by hitting with the palm.” “I have learned the tricks to protect myself,” she added.
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