Women in Muğla are receiving self-defense training against violence.

In recent years, there has been an increase in violence against women, and in Muğla, especially university students have begun to take self-defense training. The “Self-Defense Sports” course opened by the Menteşe Municipality Women’s Solidarity Center has attracted great interest not only from housewives but also from university students.

Before the courses, women participating in the self-defense training were informed about the types of violence against women by the psychologist and sociologist of the Menteşe Municipality. At the Menteşe Municipality Kötekli Youth Center (MEGEM), the training included information about the Women’s Counseling Center, which is available 24/7 via phone, provided by a psychologist and a sociologist from the municipality. The training covered the topics of violence, types of violence, and the fundamental causes of violence, such as ‘Gender Inequality’ and ‘Discrimination,’ with a particular focus on dating violence, which university students are often subjected to; information was provided on physical violence, economic violence, psychological violence, stalking, and digital violence.

The participants in the self-defense sports course opened by Menteşe Municipality expressed their gratitude to the municipality for offering such a course for women, stating that they learned how to defend themselves against potential physical violence.

Perihan Çetin, who stated that she joined the course to defend herself, said, “I am completely focused on self-protection. Because nowadays, incidents of violence against women, and even against everyone, are somewhat in the spotlight, I joined this course to protect myself in the case of a violent situation or otherwise.”

Sinem Eroğlu, who expressed her satisfaction with the self-defense sports course, said, “I need to learn to protect myself. I wanted to learn to protect myself in this course offered by Menteşe Municipality. I am very satisfied. I am glad that such a course was opened and we are learning to protect ourselves in this area here.”