RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: To raise women’s awareness for self-defence against street crimes, “Women’s Self Defence Workshop” was held at Japan Information and Culture Centre (JICC) from April 10 to 13.

Karachi-based Japanese Consulate General hosted the event in collaboration with Pakistan Marital Arts Association.

About 100 girls from various educational institutes participated in the sessions and practiced self-defence skills. Marital Arts was developed in Japan like Karate, Ju-Jitsu and Aikido, etc.

At the closing ceremony of the workshop, Toshikazu Isomura, Consul General of Japan, expressed his concern over street crimes in Karachi. However, was delighted to see that participants evinced keen interest in self-defence.

He recalled that a number of women were stabbed in Karachi a few months back that created sense of fear and insecurity among them; but, the irony of the fact is that the assailants were still at large. He said imparting self-defence education and techniques are important to remove prevailing sense of insecurity among women.

He appreciated performance of participants of the four–day training and asked them to further enhance their skills to be able to participate in Karate - a Japanese traditional unarmed combat as Tokyo is hosting international Olympics in 2020.

Japanese diplomat said it was important to promote further relationships between Japan and Pakistan in various fields. He said the workshop would also contribute to development of Japan’s cultural ties and enhancement of cooperation in sport sector.