With violent crimes against women and children increasing sporadically, the i-Lead Self Defense systems has created enabling environment for vulnerable women and children to protect themselves when caught unawares.
This publication, caught up with Risha Patak-Harie, the founder and Executive Director of i-Lead Self Defense system, during a march against gender-based violence and femicide held today, 21 February 2025, at the Kromdraai Clinic, in Kromdraai Portion 26, Mogale City, where she was explaining and demonstrating self defense techniques to the audiences.
Patak-Harie, an activist, public speaker and thought leader, said in 2012 while on her way to attend a business meeting in Joburg, she was caught up in a near kidnapping experience attack, and was able to defend herself and get to safety.
She dedicated herself defense and safety due to her Martial Arts background, and how she used her body for to protect herself from possible criminals and attackers. On that fateful day, she said “I then realised that there is an absolute need for self defence as a life skill and i-Lead Self Defense system was born.”
i-Lead Self Defense, a South African Non-Profit Organisation, Patak-Harie leverages her expertise in martial arts to provide violence prevention training to thousands of individuals.
She added that: “Together with our group of martial arts collaborators they develop a self defense system women and children that aims to prepare them mentally and physically so that if attacked, they have a fighting chance to get to safety.
The NPO is conducting community outreach programmes focusing on reaching the poorest communities, and shelters for survivors of human trafficking and GBV and Femicide. These programmes are offered through community, schools, corporate and wellness workshops.
The programmes that the system provides, amongst others, include
- Safety Awareness: Teaching awareness and preventative measures to avoid an attack.
- Self Defence: Physical self defence techniques to get to safety
- Weapon Defense: Safety and disarming of lethal weapons during an attack
- Yoga: Creating a mindset change to deal with trauma and
- Adaptive self defence: Self defence techniques adapted to cater for physical inabilities
“We hope to teach women and children violence prevention strategies that will get them to safety and keep them alive. We provide multiple options to help get away with from an attacker and encourage workshops participants to share the safety tips learned to build more awareness about how you can fight back and use your body and whatever is around you to get to safety,” Patak-Harie emphasised.
Sipho None
Soweto Sunrise News
