Breast Cancer survivor Elisabetta Massey who spent years battling illness is now fighting for women’s rights in the kingdom with the aim of educating girls on how to spot predators and protect themselves in any situation.
The 59-year-old Italian is currently staging martial art-style classes every Wednesday and Saturday at LifeFit in Janabiya in which women of all ages learn how to protect themselves using jabs, fancy footwork and other strength-building exercises.
However, Elisabetta, who has a black belt in the Japanese hard-soft-form of fighting called Karate Goju Ryu and a red belt in Tae Kwon Do, wants to set up free workshops at schools and universities to raise awareness about how to stay safe and stop the abuse.
Elisabetta, who lives in Adliya, said: “I would like to run workshops for free at schools because the world is becoming an even more dangerous place and these young girls, and boys too, need to be aware of the obstacles that can come their way.
“When I was younger, I was harassed a lot and I even gave up going to certain jobs as to not succumb to indecent requests.
“Sadly, a predator isn’t necessarily a stranger. It can be someone you know or someone that looks educated and well-groomed. It’s not always the creepy, disheveled guy that watches you from afar. So how do you know? What do you do?
“That’s why I think self defence classes at schools are necessary. It’s very disappointing when I think that in other parts of the world like the US or the UK they are starting to understand the importance of educating boys and girls about sexual assault especially before going to university which is a major problem area for this issue and we haven’t in Bahrain yet. That’s why I created the SHE.FEND Self Defence and Personal Safety for Women and Girls programme.”
The name and logo was designed and conceptualised by her British husband, Dean, a creative director in an advertising agency.
She added: “We replaced the ‘DE’ in DEFEND with ‘SHE’ as the intent is to specifically help women and girls defend themselves in this assault prone world.
“Self defence is doing everything possible to stop someone from hurting you. Fighting is only the last option and if you think you will be pulling out any cool moves … sorry that’s just in the movies. Self defence is first awareness survival instinct then technique, because technique on its own simply does not work.
“In my classes, I teach skills and techniques that will help women achieve their maximum self-protection goals with the least time and energy spent. The student will learn about the reaction known as ‘Flight or Fight’ and ‘Freeze’. Consequently the techniques that we use need to be the simplest and easiest to remember during a stressful situation.
“At the moment, it is very difficult for me to find a place where I can run these classes, apart from LifeFit who actually gave me the opportunity to stage my first successful course.
“However, many places have rejected my proposal and I don’t understand why? Every girl should feel confident and have the right and the skills to be able to protect herself.
“My aim is to prepare courses for different age groups as the sensitive nature of the subject needs to be handled differently for young children or adults. I am a strong believer in starting early to be aware of the dangers and build the confidence to address them.”
Elisabetta volunteers at Women’s Crisis Care International (WCCI) which is the first and only violence crisis response centre in the Arabian Gulf. She knows the struggle that these women endure is real and is saddened by how they suffer in silence.
“After my discussions with some of these victims, it has become apparent to me that many women here believe that being abused is normal and they are surprised when I tell them it is definitely not!
“This is because they have not been educated on these issues from a young age and this is why I feel education in school is important. It will empower them!”
Elisabetta, who follows the Feminist Self Defence programme which is based on women to women education, received her certification in UK. She also practiced with Debra Steven, founder of Premier Self Defence in London, a non-profit organisation called Action Breaks Silence.
She had turned to self defence classes and martial arts when she was going through a tough time in her life. According to her, her health during the past 10 years had fluctuated.
She contracted typhoid fever which lowered her immune system and she consequently got mononucleosis which is often called the kissing disease. The virus that causes mono is transmitted through saliva and can result in fever, swollen lymph nodes and throat as well as complication of the spleen or liver.
She was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer and after removing it and recovering from it; she then discovered that she had breast cancer and ended up having a mastectomy.
“During all this time, even though I was quite unwell, I never stopped exercising and looking after my husband and my son Sean – who is now 19 and is studying at the University of Kent – all the while moving around the region,” Elisabetta explained.
“My husband was constantly working to support us and he was frequently not at home so I was on my own. However, my independent personality and determination helped me a lot. I wanted to carry on with my life even though it has been very tough physically. I think what helped me was that I never saw myself as a victim. If there are problems, I face them and deal with them straight away and head on.
“For example, when I discovered that I had breast cancer I had two choices – to get depressed or to face the problem and find a way to deal with it. I chose the second option!
“People say that moving your home creates stress as much as getting married. I didn’t just move house, I moved country while I was undergoing radiotherapy, my son was just nine and I was doing everything by myself.”
During her stay in UK, after enduring three major operations in a few months, she wanted to regain her strength and began participating in different exercise classes and routines. It wasn’t enough for her though and she began to learn martial arts. At the age of 52, after three years of practicing in that sport and still at the beginning of her recovery from breast cancer, is when she received her black belt.
Aside from urging schools to jump on her proposal to start self defence classes, she also encourages other women and men to get checked and those suffering from cancer to keep fighting and not give up.
