EMPOWERING WOMEN
Non-contact boxing program helps women recognize their personal power
Melinda Watpol instructs students attending Shape Your Life, a non-contact boxing program for women who experienced violence, at Kersey Kickboxing on Wednesday. The initiative is intended to help women reclaim their lives and confidence.
A unique partnership is helping victims of violent crimes reclaim their lives and shed the “victim” label.
Legal Assistance of Windsor’s WEFIGHT project, an anti-human trafficking initiative, is partnering with Shape Your Life, a non-contact boxing program from Toronto. The program assists women who have experienced various types of trauma and helps them recognize their personal power and redevelop a sense of confidence in their body.
“What we want to do is change some of the messaging around women who have experienced violence and the women we work with who have been trafficked,” said Shelley Gilbert, Coordinator of Social Work Services at Legal Assistance of Windsor. “And while the identification of those issues and providing supportive counselling is really important, we also want people to understand that women heal from this and women can become empowered by different types of intervention and reconnect with their bodies.” Gilbert said the reconnection with their bodies is important, given victims of violence often disconnect as a way to get through a traumatic situation. She said after a violent crime many women feel like victims and society views them the same way.
“We want people to realize being a victim of violence is one experience in your life — it’s not who you are,” Gilbert said. “We want to reinforce the message that you are a confident woman that moves forward.” Gilbert said the program is not a boxing class but rather a boxing program that helps women reclaim their lives and confidence. Corey Kerr, 33, of Windsor, attended the free program Wednesday at Kersey Kickboxing. Kerr, a survivor of various forms of childhood sexual abuse and trauma, has developed a fear of people and crowds as a results of repeated trauma. She now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
“I really grappled with not coming,” she said. “But I’m trying to face my fears and anxieties with being around people. I spent most of the last six years very isolated and withdrawn because I developed such a strong fear of people.” For years she avoided crowds and found it easier to stay in the safety of her home. But on Wednesday, she made the decision to reclaim some of the confidence that was taken from her as a young girl. “I’m really nervous and shaking,” she said. “I’ve never boxed before. I’m just trying to channel those raw emotions that are still there with this program.”
Cathy van Ingen founded Shape Your Life in 2007 to help people who have experienced violence or trauma. But many people wanted to do more “body-based work” than the talk therapy or pharmaceutical intervention that women are normally offered. She said women are a little timid at first but it’s no contact, which puts participants at ease.
“They learn how to throw punches,” she said. “They don’t defend punches. It’s really about experiencing boxing without getting hit by the punches or any of the other risks that come along with it.” For van Ingen the most important part of the program is that the women don’t have to disclose their history.
“We don’t ask for any stories,” she said. “Just having them show up for the program shows us they ’ve experienced some violence and that’s all we need to know.”
We want people to realize beingavictimof violence is one experience in your life — it’s not who you are.