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Fighting Back on Feminist Terms: Empowerment Through Self-Defence Training in Neoliberal Times

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Orienting Feminism

Abstract

In neoliberal times, patriarchal narratives about “women who ask for it” combine with the myth of meritocracy to make the slippery slope between safety advice and victim-blame slicker than ever. The only interventions that have shown empirical reductions in sexual assaults are “feminist empowerment” programmes that equip women with effective resistance skills. So, how can a feminist approach be distinguished from neoliberal discourses that responsibilise women for crime prevention while claiming to “empower” them? Drawing on the author’s experience as a feminist self-defence teacher in Aotearoa, New Zealand, this chapter suggests that a feminist approach should attend to empowerment as a political process with three interlocking dimensions: personal, collective and subversive. Examples are given of how this is, and could be, attempted through feminist self-defence classes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Women” refers to all women, including transgender women.

  2. 2.

    Many thanks to Michael Flood for directing me to these studies.

  3. 3.

    In New Zealand, sexual violation is the fifth most common type of crime but the least often reported to police (Dickson and Wood 2013). 24 percent of women (compared with 6 percent of men) have experienced one or more incidents of sexual violation in their lives. Figures indicate 99 percent of such cases are perpetrated by men (regardless of the gender of the victim) and 90 percent by an acquaintance, partner or family member. Those at higher risk of sexual assault in Aotearoa include survivors of abuse, single parents, those of low socioeconomic status, Māori, the disabled and gender/sexuality minorities (NZCSS 2014). While there has been some research on the rainbow community’s experiences of sexual and intimate partner violence (Dickson 2016) more is needed to illuminate trans and queer people of colour’s experiences specifically.

  4. 4.

    While this is true, its is important to acknowledge that the effects of adrenaline on our behaviour can vary from fight, flee, freeze and/or flop, all of which are normal reactions to danger. There are many ways to resist which can be more or less effective in different circumstances.

  5. 5.

    For an example of such assumptions see Monette and Bradley, “U of Windsor Sexual Assault Resistance Training study needs further reflection,” March 9, 2017. https://criminologyca.wordpress.com/2017/03/09/u-of-windsor-sexual-assault-resistance-training-study-needs-further-reflection/.

  6. 6.

    For example, the Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act (EAAA) rape resistance programme—developed and evaluated by feminist researcher Charlene Senn through a randomised control trial involving over 900 women at Canadian Universities—found the programme reduced experiences of sexual assault by 50%, and attempted assault by 60%, over a two-year period (Senn et al. 2015).

  7. 7.

    Jones and Mattingly also make this point in their recent article “Empowerment, Social Justice, and Feminist Self-Defense.”

  8. 8.

    I am a member of the Women’s Self-defence Network Wāhine Toa (WSDN-WT), a feminist and Te Tiriti-based organisation committed to working towards the end of violence against women and girls in Aotearoa. Te Tiriti is the Māori version of The Treaty of Waitangi, ensuring Māori sovereignty, which was signed in 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs but which has not been honoured by the Crown.

  9. 9.

    There are also valid concerns about the limitations of a theory of vulnerability as universal for informing political analysis and action to address the unequal distribution of social risks and harms. For example, see Cole 2016.

  10. 10.

    I have taught courses open to all genders in the rainbow community and there are other examples of all-gender inclusive feminist self-defence programmes in Aotearoa such as Trans Fight Club and Lip Smackers which cater to the queer community in Wellington. WSDN-WT also run tailor-made programmes for specific groups such as migrant women, the disabled, young parents, Māori, the elderly and so on.

  11. 11.

    For example, see the philosophy of Peace Over Violence, one of the USA’s longest running femnist self defence providers: http://www.peaceoverviolence.org/prevention/self-defense/philosophy/.

  12. 12.

    See feminist self-defence organisations Wen-Do: http://wendo.ca, LowKick: https://lowkick-berlin.de/en/, Peace over Violence http://www.peaceoverviolence.org/prevention/self-defense/philosophy/.

  13. 13.

    For example, a wealthy able-bodied White cis-woman may find the task of leaving a violent partner much easier and safer because of access to resources and support which a disabled trans-woman living in poverty may not have access to.

  14. 14.

    The Māori caucus of WSDN-WT is currently working on full translations of all of our teaching materials into Te Reo.

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  1. The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Bell A. Murphy

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  1. Faculty of Policy Studies, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan

    Catherine Dale

  2. Media, Film and Communication, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Rosemary Overell

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Murphy, B.A. (2018). Fighting Back on Feminist Terms: Empowerment Through Self-Defence Training in Neoliberal Times. In: Dale, C., Overell, R. (eds) Orienting Feminism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70660-3_5

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