Women’s Wellness – Wen Do Women’s Self Defence

Women’s Wellness is open to all women –  trans and cis – and nonbinary people who want to participate in programming that centers women’s experience who live in 30 or 35 Charles Street, University Family Housing. 

Take time out of your busy schedule just for you! Enjoy a breakfast and a weekly interactive session with on-site childminding provided. Raffle prizes each week! The Women’s Wellness series is an opportunity to pause and pay attention to your physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

The 2023 series weekly interactive sessions will be:

  • Thursday February 16 Connecting with Others and Ourselves
  • Thursday February 23 Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop
  • Thursday March 2 Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence
  • Thursday March 9 Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

To register, please email family.care@utoronto.ca and include the sessions you are registering for, your name, U of T status (or status of your partner), and the names and ages of your children if you require free childminding.

Organized by the Family Care Office, in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, University Family Housing, and the Community Safety Office.

Wen Do Women’s Self Defence

Date: Thursday, March 2
Time: Breakfast begins at 9:30 am, childminding drop-off at 9:45 am and the workshop will run from 10 am – 11:30 am
Location: Activity room at 30 Charles Street West

This Wen-Do workshop is for women (cis, trans, and anyone who identifies as a woman). In this class, participants will learn simple, powerful physical self-defence skills, explore effective verbal self-defence strategies, develop their ability to recognize and deal with threatening situations, increase their confidence, and have fun!

Facilitators:

Leslie Allin loves teaching Wen-Do because working at the intersection of practice (learning effective physical techniques) and theory (dismantling stereotypes surrounding violence against women, knowledge about self-defense, and naming women’s experience) profoundly empowers women. She continues to be inspired by her students’ insights, energy, and determination. She also volunteers on the Wen-Do phone line. Leslie holds a PhD in Literature and lectures on representations of empire, race, and gender.