'We want people to feel safe': More self-defence classes for women hosted by Al Rashid Mosque

Self-defence class enrollment rises in Edmonton As Ryan Harding reports, a number of hate-motivated crimes and incidents have increased the number of women attending classes.

EDMONTON — 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.

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.”

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.

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.”