The Kerala Police will soon impart self-defence skills to women to repulse incidents of harassment and violence. Permanent training centres will be set up in all districts. The centres will prepare women to defend themselves during incidents of physical conflict. They will be trained in physical defence techniques to protect themselves from harassment on buses and trains, chain-snatching, acid attacks, sexual assault, domestic violence and harassment inside closed spaces such as lifts and ATMs.
The defence techniques will be quite simple compared to complex fighting forms such as Karate and Kalari, and they can be learnt within a short period of time, according to an official release on Saturday.
Apart from physical self-defence methods, the centres will conduct programmes to raise awareness of laws that protect women’s rights, methods to prevent harassment and systems for police protection from harassment. The training will include psychological techniques to improve confidence and individuality among women.
A syllabus, of 60 hours in total, has been devised for the programme.
The permanent training centres will be set up in 18 police districts, at a cost of ₹3 lakh each. A State-level centre will also be set up in Thiruvananthapuram.
Apart from this, training programmes centred on schools, colleges, office complexes and residents’ associations will be held in all districts. Around 500 female police officers across the State have been trained to conduct the programme.
The initiative is an extension of the self-defence programme undertaken by the State police at present.
