November 27th, 2016: Canadian University Dubai (CUD) has marked the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women with an event to raise awareness of the important global issue.
Speaking at the event were Dr. Louise Lambert, Assistant Professor in the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Lina Khalife, founder of SheFighter, the first self-defence studio for women in Jordan and the Middle East.
Gathering together both male and female students, faculty and staff, the event sought to reinforce the UN’s message about the incidences and threats surrounding rape, domestic violence, harassment and other forms of violence against women.
Opening the event, Dr. Lambert reflected on one of her earliest professional experiences, studying domestic violence for the Justice Project in Canada. She talked about the findings of her work, during the course of which she counselled men convicted of domestic violence.
Dr. Lambert revealed, “They were given the choice of a week of counselling or a year in jail. Some of them still chose the one year option. What I found during the study was that domestic violence is a symptom of a much bigger issue. When I asked the men ‘why did you do this?’, the final answer was usually ‘because I could’.”
Likening this issue with prescribed gender roles that both men and women grow up with, Dr. Lambert discussed the cultural, religious, social, parental pressures and expectations adding to the mix. She said, “Girls are told from when they are little: ‘don’t be bossy, don’t be dramatic, tone it down’. While boys are told: ‘don’t be a wimp, don’t cry or how can you let this go?’”
Dr. Lambert also spoke about the different expectations men have for their partners versus their daughters. She revealed, “The Shriver report on 21st century men tells us that 66% of surveyed men would like the quality of independence in their daughters but only 34% wanted it in their partners. For a partner, the most preferred qualities were found to be sweet, attractive, understanding. These gender roles create a power imbalance, which is usually propagated through life.”
Continuing the debate, Lina Khalife spoke about her experience growing up in Jordan and how a high school friend who was visibly abused did not want to raise her voice against her father and brother who routinely beat her. She said, “I started questioning gender roles and the injustices based on it. My friend’s plight triggered the idea of starting a self-defence training centre for women.”
SheFighter has trained 12,000 women so far and Khalife’s work has been acknowledged globally. She has worked with the actress Emma Watson, training her in martial arts, and has a number of fascinating stories that illustrate the importance of her work, including a woman she trained who was able to overpower her attacker and have him arrested.
Khalife went on to provide some tips and demonstrations to female students on how to stay safe, including the importance of body language, showing self-confidence, being aware of one’s surroundings, not getting into enclosed spaces if there is a sense of danger and most importantly, learning self-defence.
She concluded by saying that, “The main thing to remember is that attackers are cowards. Men harass women because they have low self-esteem and because they can get away with it.”
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