Dinda
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The Jakarta Post, January 25, 2007
Giving women options in face of assault
Some 26 women lined up in pairs in the front yard of house in Taman Tanah Abang,Central Jakarta on Sunday.
Each of women took turns trying to dodge an attack with effective punch, strike ,or kick.
“Left ! Right ! Left ! Right!” ordered Sensei Fahmi Syarief the instructor of the martial arts class for women.
It was not yet noon but the participants were full of energy and laughter.
Sensei Fahmi cracked one joke after another, making learning this tough combat sport both fun and easy.
The training focused on perfecting basic knowledge-showing the women how to utilize their reflexes and body to protect themselves.
Amid the increasing number of report of violence against women and crimes targeting women, classes like the one of Tanah Abang are being organized to empower women to act quickly if they think they might be attacked or are threatened.
According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) there has been a 45 percent increased in reported cases in 2004 from 14,.020 cases to 20.391 cases in 2005.Some 85 percent of the cases of were domestic violence with the perpetrator being mostly people familiar to the victims.
Outside, on the street working women also become easy prey for muggers and rings of robbers operating from taxis.
The marital arts class for women is free of charge and the first of its kind in the country. Its founder, Titiana Adinda said the class was initially organized in response to the deplorable conditions women were both working and living under.
Even with the high number of the cases of crimes against women, there have yet to be any classes here to defend them selves, said Titiana, who was formerly assistant coordinator at Komnas Perempuan.
In 2005, KomnasPerempuan data shows, 215 institutions dealt with more than 20.391 cases of violence against women. The Institution including 59 crisis centre scattered across 20 provinces, which handled about 97 cases each year.
The class was assembled using the power of Internet technologies. It all began when Titiana uploaded her 2003 opinion piece, title Violence against women ; society’s disease on the Internet in September 2006.The article was previously published in national daily Kompas.
The 27-year-old woman, better known as Dinda, said an Indonesian-born Karate Sensei in the
He contacted his friend and fellow karate instructor in
Dinda said she promoted the class trough the Internet by sending email to number of mailing lists including Forum Pembaca Kompas (Kompas Reader’s Forum)Hanya Wanita (Just Women),Cita Cinta and Mediacare.
“We can’t afford to advertise through the media and don’t have enough friends to rely on them spreading the word, that’s why my mailing list was the most effective means of telling people about the class.
The first courses started in November with about 20 participants. At the time, practice held in the Senayan Sports Complex,
The second course with new participants is being conducted at Sensei Fahmi’s house. “It’s cleaner and more comfortable for doing push-up and sit-ups” Dinda said
She said most of the women were working women who had experienced violence.
Dinda said she hoped the class inspired others to offer similar courses for women. She also plans to write the book on self defense for women.
“It’s very important for every women to learn to protect themselves. Every women is at risk of violence; working women, stay-at-home wives and domestic and migrant workers” She said.
Thirty-four year-old Betty Suryaningsih a class participant, said she was once attacked by knife-wielding mugger in Cilincing. “At that time I was scared and did not know what to do”
She said the self defense class had taught her how to handle dangerous situations with simple moves.
“We taught to be alert. Sensei also told us how to dodge people who harass us, how to avoid being mugged and even how to fend off a taxi drivers who attempts to rob us”.
Fahmi said the humans were encoded with ability to protect themselves. “Utilizing your reflexes in the best possible way is the key to self-defense”
He said the class was strictly for women.”No men can enter this class, or else they would come to know the secrets of women’s self-defense,”he said smiling.
Contact details for Karate Program
Jl.Taman Tanah Abang III No.19 Central Jakarta
Ida: 021-98830032 or Dinda 021-70736928
(Reported by: Prodita Sabarini-The Jakarta Post,
1 comment:
bagus isi blognya, salut.
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