Seeking to empower rural women in personal safety and train them to escape from violence and crime unleashed against them, Pudhu Vazhvu Project (PVP) has launched self-defence programme for its members.
Collector T. Munusamy launched the training programme here on Wednesday. It was aimed at helping the rural women gain self-esteem, develop confidence and become strong enough to face challenges and safeguard themselves from vulnerable and dangerous environments.
Members of Village Poverty Reduction Committee (VPRC) and Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) in 181 village panchayats would be given the training, V. Ashok Kumar, District Project Manager, PVP, said.
He said 10 VPRC members and 11 PLF members from each panchayat would be trained. The rural women would be trained in basic karate practice and taught how to react with presence of mind to escape from violence and crime, he said.
The training would come in handy when they were targeted for chain and purse snatching, subjected to harassment, and targeted for violence, he said. The Martial Arts Institute would impart the self-defence training to the women for two hours in a day for six days.
About 3,800 women in the age group of 20 to 25 years would be covered under the training programme, Mr. Kumar said. The women would be divided into 125 batches, each comprising 30 women, and the training would be given to them at the community halls in their panchayats, he added.
