Caxton College in the movement against gender violence

The school in Valencia is organising a training course in self-defence for women, with all proceeds going to benefit the association ‘Por ti mujer’.

In the three-session course, two specialists will cover a range of topics, both theoretical and practical, with the aim of empowering women who wish to acquire the basic training to protect themselves from gender aggression or violence. ‘I think it’s important that women, starting from a young age, can identify the attitudes and behaviour that are characteristic of gender violence and that are not as visible or that have been normalised. I also think it’s fundamental that they know about the resources and protocols of action that are available to them’, says Sara Piñango, a legal and forensic psychologist with experience in the field of gender violence. She is also a first dan black belt in Karate. Piñango is one of the instructors who will give the self-defence course at Caxton College.

Perhaps one of the most important points of this intensive programme is its preventive element, which consists in helping to identify situations and signs that alert to a possible situation of risk. To this end, the practical part of the course will contain both fundamentals of martial arts as well as how to react to certain problematic situations. ‘It’s important that they learn to anticipate the situations that could lead to an increased level of risk, which is how they can also learn to avoid them. We will also teach strategies for action in particularly complicated situations’, declares Fernando Piñango, Karate coach for the CD Caxton College team and second dan black belt with a certificate in Female Self-Defence with the Real Federación Española de Kárate.

With a commitment to providing the best comprehensive education for its pupils, Caxton College will donate the enrolment fees for the course to the Valencian association Por ti mujer, which collaborates in the fight against gender violence, in the empowerment of women, in exercising full women’s rights and in achieving gender equality.