A violent assault by would-be robbers steered Bolivian Lidia Mayta in the direction of the martial artwork of taekwondo. Three years later, she helps prepare different Indigenous girls to defend themselves towards rampant gender-based violence within the South American nation.
Mayta says she would have died if neighbours had not come out of their houses to scare off the assailants choking her exterior her entrance door as they tried to steal her pockets.
After the assault, she pledged she would by no means really feel so helpless once more.
She joined a woman-only class on the Warmi Energy taekwondo studio in Bolivia’s second metropolis El Alto. Warmi means “girl” within the indigenous Quechua language.
Her enthusiasm was such that the founders quickly requested her to hitch the coaching workforce, serving to specifically to translate directions into Aymara, one other of Bolivia’s indigenous tongues.
“I didn’t know tips on how to defend myself, now I attempt to assist different girls lose that concern,” the 56-year-old shopkeeper and group well being secretary mentioned.
“It is a job of violence prevention.”
Authorities knowledge exhibits that eight out of 10 girls and ladies in Bolivia undergo bodily violence a minimum of as soon as of their lives.
“It is a violent nation for ladies,” mentioned Lucia Vargas of Coordinadora de la Mujer, or Ladies’s Coordinator, a rights advocacy group.
In 2023, greater than 51,000 girls reported falling sufferer to violence. Husbands or companions have been the perpetrators within the overwhelming majority of instances.
Warmi Energy was launched by Laura Roca and Kimberly Nosa – each taekwondo black belts – in 2015.
“Violence is just not solved with violence, however studying to defend ourselves can save our lives,” mentioned Nosa, who has been practising the martial artwork for 18 years.
Roca is a educated psychologist who mentioned she took up the self-discipline regardless of her father insisting it was the protect of males.
Collectively, the pair have educated greater than 35,000 girls countrywide.
On the class in El Alto, many of the girls are Indigenous and engaged in casual commerce.
