With the delivery of the certificates to the female visitors, the closing ceremony of the female self-defense course was held by instructors of the Italian contingent in Kosovo in the city of Peć / Pejë.
The course, carried out with Italian contingent personnel under the Multinational Battle Group West (MNBGW), lasted over 8 weeks.
The project, aimed at women victims of domestic violence, was carried out thanks to the cooperation between the personnel assigned to Civil and Military Cooperation (CIMIC), the Liaison Monitoring Teams (LMT) of the Joint Regional Detachment West (JRDW), the local institutions of Peć / Pejë and the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Women wellness center”.
The NGO, founded in 1999 to assist women victims of violence during the conflict, currently provides assistance to those victims of domestic violence by guaranteeing a home for those forced to leave the marital home.
A training premise was conducted as a premise of the course, aimed at training a team of female instructor helpers in order to better interact with the female visitors.
The type of self-defense proposed is aimed exclusively at teaching techniques and strategies for the defense against aggression on a physical, psychological and verbal level - such as strangulation or physical oppression - by applying grips and levers that allow the attacked woman to avoid the threat.
The activity set itself the goal of teaching the attenders to learn the basic movements to free themselves and defend themselves from a physical attack, from attack with a white weapon or with a firearm, to acquire a more secure and serene approach in everyday life, as well as to recognize situations in which they could be more easily vulnerable to threats from possible criminals.
The commander of the MNBGW, Colonel Gianfranco Di Marco, expressed his satisfaction for the realization of the project, hoping that the example provided by the course could be useful to support and to face, with concrete actions, a current topic and much heard not only in Kosovo but throughout modern society.
The project carried out is one of those defined as "no cost", which make it possible to provide the civil community with the dual use skills and capabilities (dual use) of the Armed Forces. It was also organized in close collaboration with the Department of Sport and Equal Opportunities of the Municipality of Peć / Pejë and with the NGO "Youth Innovation Center" which gave the gym the availability to carry out the lessons.
Recently, in full compliance with the mandate of the KFOR mission and its neutrality, a joint project was concluded in coordination with the South East Joint Regional Detachment (JRD SE) in favor of the women responsible for the "Safe House" managed by the NGO " Women Shelter "in the majority Serb village of Bostane, in the Municipality of Novo Brdo / Novobërdë.
