WOMEN LEARN SELF-DEFENCE
Province May Offer More Courses

Chantal McRitchie (left) and her mother, Peggy, demonstrate self-defence techniques to women during a class at the Victoria Inn.

Fears of Winnipeg’s street violence appear to have women kicking and screaming for a way to protect themselves.

On the heels of a self-defence seminar conducted by a mother-daughter instructor team this past weekend, the provincial government appears set to help offer additional courses to women across the city. Fort Garry Women’s Resource Centre will today announce a plan to hold free courses in self-defence for women at several facilities, and the Family Services Department and Winnipeg Foundation will join in the launch.

“There have been incidents of violence in the news, but violence against women and children happens all the time,” Sharon Hunter of the Resource Centre told the Winnipeg Sun. “By doing something like this and having it free and offering it at different locations in this city, and by trying to provide child care, we’re trying to remove barriers for women and girls who want to take the course.” Nancy Chippendale, who took a separate one-day course offered Sunday by Peggy McRitchie, 46, and her daughter Chantal McRitchie, 22, said attacks making headlines show a need for accessible self-protection instruction.

SEVERAL ATTACKS

One such assault was perpetrated last week on a 40-year-old woman by a group of males in the West End. Chippendale also pointed to several attacks in the past few months on women around Health Sciences Centre. “That’s why this workshop was a good idea,” she said. “A situation like that can actually be prevented.”

The provincial government has not revealed the extent to which it’s involved in the women’s seminars, though spokesman Charlie McDougall noted the Family Services Department funds several resource centres offering the program.

After instructing nearly 30 girls and women ages 10 to 60 on Sunday, Peggy McRitchie said it’s a coincidence her seminar came two days before the Fort Garry resource centre program’s launch. “The reality is that it can happen any time, anywhere,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s instilling in parents’ minds, especially, that we want our daughters and our kids to be safe.”

Source: http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2007/02/13/3605784-sun.html