Founded by Feminist Action Group Morocco (GAFM)

Morocco

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Challenge

This is a successful self-defense social protection program carried out by a survivor of violence. The course does not require any physical combat skills and is based on a simple methodology that can be adjusted to everyone regardless of their physical abilities. Self-defense in the "Hadek Temma" project is seen in its broader sense of collective empowerment, creating a safe space for participants to break the silence about the violence they are experiencing, to understand that it is not their fault, to remove the idea of ​​shame and create solidarity and support groups so that they can put in place collective strategies in the face of situations where they alone cannot react.

The program was inspired by self-defense methods conveyed in Canada and Europe and was adapted to the Moroccan context through the co-creation of tools between the facilitator and the young women of the group, focusing on body language and sharing of experiences.

Solution and social Innovation

The first thing is that we use a methodology that allows women to recognize their traumatic experience from which she herself finds the keys to analysis and strategies for action. The workshops target the empowerment of women and aim to push them towards autonomy. the goal is for them to question their limiting beliefs so that they can believe that they can take the step of stopping violence, be autonomous and create a protective environment with other women. in the activities, when I ask questions, I encourage women to share the answers with each other because they are the experts in their lives. then I realized that when I let women react to an experience of a woman, I realize that unconsciously they invalidate her experience, so today instead of reacting directly to an experience of a woman I react first.

Results and Impact

Young women become more empowered. Their vision and their perceptions of themselves change, they take a different look at the violence, they limit their feeling of guilt and the shame they feel around the violence they have suffered because they will understand that it is not their fault but that of the aggressor They develop an awareness and know-how around the self-defense strategies that they will be able to practice in risk situations They know how to spot the first signs before violence and are able to put in place strategies to prevent them. They feel the strength in themselves, strengthen their own sense of security, and encourage other women to believe in their strength. They create support and solidarity between them to prevent and deal with situations of violence.