Project Proposal

Martena Grace
Full Project Proposal

       You are a female coming home from a fun night out at 1 am and your uber drops you off just slightly away from your house. After all those snaps you have taken, your phone is as good as dead. You walk that extra block in your gorgeous 4-inch heels and little can you tell, there is a guy walking behind you catcalling and gaining speed on you. You tell him politely you are not interested and he violently gets in your face and pins you against the wall in anger as there is no one else outside to stop him. Your heart dropped and fear is pumping in your blood. What do you do?
If you can't defend yourself, this can go in 100 different tragic ways.

Situations like this HAPPEN ALL THE TIME !!! You don't have to be in that specific scenario but walking home, in a parking lot or even a house break-in. Women need to be able to defend themselves because more often than not, situations like these will not end in the women's best interest.
My focus for this project is empowering women and giving them more confidence and safety in their daily lives.
     Violence against women comes in several shapes and forms. You have the cat calling and winking in the streets that you can usually walk away from with no harm. There is partner abuse, rape, and harassment. There is stranger based relationship rape, there is sex trafficking, kidnapping etc that list can go on and on. Currently, " Adult women account for 51 percent of all human trafficking victims detected globally. Women and girls together account for 71 percent, with girls representing nearly three out of every four child trafficking victims. Nearly three out of every four trafficked women and girls are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation  ( UNwomen 1)" There is also a baffling statistic that states," In 15 states, more than 40% of all homicides of women in each state involved intimate partner violence (Kellner  1 )" 
    If I was to put every single statistic, this entire proposal would fill up extremely fast. But stats can only tell you so much.  Females are in constant fear and battle with the outside world in any interaction they have. I, as a 2o-year-old female, can attest to this. I've had night classes every semester in college so far and I don't drive so I take the train home which takes me about a 1 of total wait time outside ( an actual 10 min ride ). Almost every night,, there is this one guy - drunk or not - that just simply will not leave me alone with all this cat calling and constant approaching me. It is even worse when it is a group of guys. I am usually very kind to them and tell them to leave but some just don't and think I am playing hard to get so they try and hold my hand or STROKE MY HAIR ( very disturbing ). I've had guys follow me on my two trains and then home !!! However, I proceed with these situations with confidence as I am trained in Martial Arts and self-defense. My body and brain go into automatic fight alert because I know what to do and I am ready to defend myself if things get too far which I had to do many times. Females go through this all the time and this is my way of giving them a tool to help them in situations like this in order to just feel a little more confidence in what they have to do. It has personally helped me so much in look of my life and mental health. Macarei said, " Evidence of the effectiveness of martial arts in producing affective, cognitive and behavioural benefits has come from a number of studies. Improvements in self-esteem , a more positive response to physical challenge , greater autonomy, emotional stability and assertiveness  and reductions in anxiety and depression 
have all been associated with martial arts training. It has also drawn attention to the social benefits of such behavioural change – in particular the relationship between martial arts practice and aggression.
Project : I can offer self Defense classes for women free of charge. 

This is something I can do very easily as I already know all I have to teach. This will literally allow females to use their bodies as a weapon when needed. Your body is the best and most convenient weapon. I want every woman to walk with confidence in the streets and to be able to take care of herself in situations like this. Yes, knowing a few self-defense moves will get the man off you and you'll be able to escape but I will be much more than that. Being strong and able to defend one's self will give a new self of empowerment and that empowerment will translate into our daily life. Being active and aware of your body will give women more self love and confidence to hold their ground in their every day life.

Advertisement plan: Making flyers with my classes dates and with the statistics on them ( so women are aware of what is really going ) and posting them on my IG - my Dojo's IG - NJCU's IG. I will post them on this page Bayonne talks which has over 16k people and any other platforms that I have access to. 
I also plan to keep my classes small to about 8 people so I can give my full attention to them ( if I get help from my friends - will hold bigger classes ). 
I also plan to make a brief video with any stories the women want to share to give them a community atmosphere.

I want this to be a ripple effect where one females tell the other about the benefits and peace of mind this will bring them.