Self defence to 'equip women' after recent attacks

Kiranjit Janagal, a psychotherapist and coach, said it was important to empower women and equip them to feel safer

A self defence class is to be offered to women in Wolverhampton, in light of recent violent and sexual attacks on women in the West Midlands.

Kiranjit Janagal, founder of Keeping People Well, which offers well-being therapies to adults and young people, said there was a rising feeling of fear among women and that she wanted to do something to combat it.

On Friday, a woman was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop in Birmingham and two women were raped in Oldbury and Walsall in separate attacks, both described by police as racially motivated.

Ms Janagal said it was good to equip women with the skills "so they can look after themselves and look after each other as well."

While fear among women had increased, Ms Janagal said it was important to keep "a balance"

She said she now carried an alarm and knew local gudwaras had been handing some out to female worshippers, but wanted to remain mindful that "we don't feed into the panic of it all".

"As an organisation, we try to look at holistic ways to keep people well and we focus on prevention," she said.

'Feel confident'

"We are running some self defence classes in Wolverhampton because we felt everyone was talking about [safety], but I personally felt we weren't really doing anything about it.

"People close to me, people in my network, people online, I can see in videos people getting harassed and feeling unsafe."

She said she contacted a local martial arts centre and an initial class will be held free of charge at Wolverhampton Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Cockshutts Lane, on 29 November.

More classes may be arranged, after feedback she had pointed towards a need to help women, she added.

"I think if I speak for myself, and for the women that I've been talking to about this, that if we can empower women and make them feel confident that they can protect themselves when they need to, I think that will help."