'We need to make sure women have safety awareness'

Gulshen Bano runs Strike Back Self Defence for Women, which holds workshops to teach Krav Maga self-defence

"I was thinking, 'If I don't learn how to keep myself safe, I'm not going to be so lucky and something serious is really going to happen'."

Those are the words of pharmacist Gulshen Bano, from Solihull, who responded by setting up self-defence workshops for women, after "being on the receiving end of violence".

She launched Strike Back Self Defence for Women in 2019 and it now teaches Krav Maga - "a survival system" - across the globe, with a workshop taking place in Moseley on Thursday.

Ms Bano said: "I was a visibly Muslim woman, I used to wear a hijab. One particular incident, I was with my children and a car drove past and threw liquid at us. That for me was a real turning point."

Strike Back Self Defence for Women is partnering with local community group, Solihull Seva, to run a self defence workshop in Moseley

The company has teamed up with community group Solihull Seva to run the workshop in Moseley.

"This is for every female - the more I did this, the more women were in my own space saying, 'This has happened to me', whether they were hijab wearing or not. Every woman had a story," Ms Bano explained.

The workshop is designed to teach women essential skills and empower them with confidence.

'Rise in racial attacks'

According to the British Academy of Krav Maga, the self defence style is not a martial art, but a survival system.

It doesn't teach people "how to fight in a ring" but instead learn how to "go home alive, no matter the situation".

Sharon Kasbia from Solihull Seva, said Thursday's workshop was a way to make sure even more women have safety awareness.

"We are seeing in public, when you are going on the train, tubes, a rise in racial attacks, we are seeing a rise in just public anger, the environment is just very challenging at the moment," she said.

"So I felt, what can I do to help this. For me, we need to empower the women and we need to make sure that they have safety awareness."

The women-only ticketed workshop starts at 19:00 BST at Moseley Cricket Club.