By Callum Ludwig
Starting in 2017, The Girls Movement (TGM) has been empowering women in the Upper Yarra, with a self-defence, relationships and consent S.E.L.F workshop being held on Sunday 10 July.
Local residents Teri McIntyre, Yalleen Flahive and Robin Wright grew up in the area their whole lives and saw a dearth of opportunities for young women growing up.
Ms McIntyre, who is still a Director of TGM, said while it is a lot better now, it used to be difficult for women to travel out, particularly on public transport.
“We wanted to create The Girls Movement to create some events, build a bit of community and provide opportunities for women to get involved,” she said.
“We started looking at grants and applying for them through Bendigo Bank, Yarra Ranges Council and the local Rotary Club to put together a couple of events. We did a few outdoor cinemas in Yarra Junction to start which was great.
The S.E.L.F workshop represents what TGM has evolved into, and will be held at the Yarra Centre in Yarra Junction from 11am to 1pm, with all women aged 12 to 25 welcome to participate for free.
Ms McIntyre said TGM originally ran a self-defence workshop from an external provider years ago, but found while it was good, it wasn’t necessarily appropriate for the age group they were working with.
“From that, Robin and myself, who both have a fitness background, decided to get our own qualifications in women’s self-defence. We contacted a company called Modern Defensive Techniques Australia, and trained with them for a couple of years to get our qualifications,” she said.
“We both became qualified in 2019 and then we run one workshop for 12 girls under 25, and it was really good. Then there was the pandemic and finally, we are back.”
The 60-minute self-defence session aims to teach attendees how to use their voice to ward off an attacker, what situational awareness is and why it’s important as well as a number of basic strikes and kicks.
This will be followed by a 45-minute session of consent and relationships from Elephant Ed, a sex education organisation run by young people for young people.
Ms McIntyre said sex education is super important, particularly as previously it hasn’t been very common and there hadn’t been much discussion about consent and relationships in generations past.
“We really wanted to provide an opportunity where girls can learn about this kind of stuff with their friends in a space outside of school, where they’re safe and feel comfortable to ask questions and get involved,” she said.
“It will provide that opportunity for them in a way that’s accessible and free and they’ll be able to learn from their peers as well. I think Elephant Ed does such a great job and being run by young people, it can be more comfortable learning about that stuff from someone their own age rather than from teachers or from parents.”
Elephant Ed’s session will discuss the legalities of consent, what is considered valid consent (verbal/nonverbal communication), what is consent in the media, the importance of respecting boundaries and where to go for help.
Attendees can register at https://forms.gle/Aw8LTKcVLEmWfK9Y9 and find more information about The Girls Movement at www.facebook.com/thegirlsmovement.
