How Self-Defense Classes Improve the Lives of Women in Refugee Camps

The time I spend in Kurdistan is always very intense: I give self-defense courses for around 25 people in the mornings and afternoons. The program is based on Impact, a combination of self-defense strategies that includes other aspects in addition to self-defense techniques: How do I communicate correctly? How can I use my voice effectively? How do I de-escalate tense situations? Self-defense is not just about fighting, but also about your posture and how you carry yourself! And I demonstrate how you can use everyday objects such as an umbrella or a rucksack to defend yourself. Most of my students are young women. They often attend several courses in a row, but new women are also joining all the time.

The conditions are lousy, there’s no other way of putting it. You have to improvise. An IT room is quickly turned into a gym with a few yoga mats, for example. Or you might very often be without power for several hours. Over the years, I have developed a certain ability to find creative solutions to challenging problems.

People who practice martial arts have more self-confidence. They radiate strength and are less likely to be attacked. It’s not just about being able to physically defend yourself from being assaulted. We also explain to women that they have rights, that they can and are allowed to say no. Women are entitled to demand physical and psychological integrity. When they have the feeling that they are making their own decisions, they break out of their passivity. They want to change things and make a difference. Whether it’s in politics, society, or the economy. The country benefits from this, too. I think this feeling of being able to set boundaries and decide for yourself is extremely important and liberating.

My “Traces of Hope” project quickly became very successful, and after it had become an integral module in many refugee camps in Kurdistan in Iraq, I moved on to the next step: sustainability. Doing something is one thing, doing something sustainably is another. And so I established the second project, the “Train the Trainer” program. I train the most enthusiastic and talented girls to become coaches, so that they can teach girls and young women themselves in the future. This means they can incorporate what they have learned into their culture in a way that is right for them. And it’s also great for the women to see that someone from their culture is teaching these values and techniques.

Very well. And not just the female participants – I also get a lot of approval from men. During my last visit, a Kurdish TV station even invited me to give an interview.

I have found that the women in these regions are very controlled – they do not show their emotions. In my classes, they have the chance to let their emotions out. Joy, but also frustration and anger. An important part of self-defense is the use of the voice. During the exercises, I get them to shout every time they punch or kick. This is something that most of these women have never done before. It has been proven that using your voice gives you up to 30 percent more strength and at the same time increases the chance that other people will become aware of the situation and help. The women are usually very shy at first, but you quickly grow together as a group and in the end you are almost like a family.

For as long as I can remember, being involved in social causes has been extremely important to me and is something that is very close to my heart. I have always felt very privileged: I grew up in a safe country, had an excellent education, have a good job, and earn good money. I want to give something back. Here in Switzerland, I am a member of the voluntary fire department. But that’s not nearly enough for me. Our time on earth is limited, and ultimately I would like to be able to say that I have done everything I could to give something good and a little more hope to as many people as possible.

My passion is martial arts, so it was clear to me that I wanted to use this passion to do good. I also have a knack for imparting knowledge, building bridges, and connecting with people from a different background.

A good six years ago, I decided to use my passion, my talent, my money, and my vacation to teach self-defense to girls and young women in refugee camps in crisis and war zones. And that’s how my “Traces of Hope” project came about. Focusing on Kurdistan in Iraq, I work with two established NGOs and carry out two missions to Iraq every year, if the situation allows. That’s a total of four weeks in which I teach self-defense to two groups of girls and young women for at least six hours a day. The aim is to empower these women so that one day there will be strong and courageous women in politics, business, and other areas in this country.

It is certainly not without its risks. Once we had to spend a whole night underground and heard bombs exploding. However: Thanks to the cooperation with the NGOs and an excellent network in Iraq, we are able to assess the risk very accurately and guarantee the best possible safety. Sometimes missions are canceled at very short notice because the situation changes abruptly. This was the case last November, for example, when my mission was canceled two days before my departure because the American military base, which is right next to the airport in Erbil, was bombed and it was too dangerous for me to enter the country.

One of my students actually made it out of there and is now studying computer science at a university in Holland. With success stories like these, I feel vindicated in what I do.