From New York Post
A New Yorker is preparing Muslim women to protect themselves against hate crimes.
Rana Abdelhamid, from Queens, is the founder of the International Muslim Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment, a grassroots organization that offers self-defense classes and teaches leadership skills.
“Our main goal is to be able to give Muslim women the tools to be able to confront anti-Muslim violence, gender-based violence and state-based violence,” Abdelhamid said.
She teaches women several moves to defend against shoving, front grabbing and other “typical” hate-crime attacks. Grabbing a woman’s hijab is so common that Abdelhamid said the group has developed a special maneuver to counter it with the help of chief self-defense instructor Maryam Aziz.
“We’ve actually put together and invented, almost, a technique called the ‘hijab-grab’ technique, which is so messed up because why should we have to invent that?” she said.
Even though physical defense is important, verbal defense, as well as building confidence, are other tools women can use to protect themselves, according to Abdelhamid.
“I need you to go home and I need you to scream, I need you to practice to use your voice to say ‘stop,’ to say, ‘no,’” she tells her students.
A study from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding reveals 42 percent of Muslim Americans report religious-based bullying.
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