Indian Army to impart self-defence training to adolescent girls in Northern Kashmir

In a bid to empower women with shielding techniques, the Indian Army has set out to impart self-defence training to adolescent girls in North Kashmir. The Indian Army has joined hands with Edge & Impact - an expert in unarmed combat training - to help women defend their modesty in times of need.

The primary objective of the training programme is to enable one to defend themselves amid the rising rate of crimes against women, as per data. With over 4,00,000 cases being registered in 2019, an increase of 7.3% was reported in crimes reported against women, as per the National Crime Record Bureau's report. Out of the cases registered in 2019, cases of crime against women' accounted for nearly 22% of the total number followed by 'kidnapping & abduction of women' with 17.9%. The NCRB report also revealed that the crime rate registered per lakh women population is 62.4 in 2019 in comparison with 58.8 in 2018. 

The self-defence training is slated to be a 6-day long affair where easy and retainable techniques to sternly defend oneself will be taught. The Indian Army will also acquaint women with several other significant self-defence techniques which involves using daily-use objects like pencils, water bottles and bags to the best of their ability when needed.

Self-defence training to students

This is not the first time that the Army is organizing a self-defence programme for the general public. In September this year, the Army imparted self-defence training to students living along the Line of Control in Jammu's Rajouri district. The students were also taught about the use and functions of the weapons displayed at the event by Kalidhar Bridge of the Indian Army at Bakhar-Sunderbani area. Before that in 2017, the Army trained 10 girls in a four-week training course of self-defence. It was the first time that the Army had introduced such a programme under which, girls were trained in different martial arts techniques by specialised army trainers.

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Image Credits: PTI