Facing staggering gender-based violence, SA women turn to self-defence

In South Africa, femicide rates are thought to be five times higher than the global average. With many women victims of violence, some are now taking their security into their own hands through martial arts and self-defence classes.

At the command of their female instructor, this group of women fire five rounds of bullets from 9mm guns at a target a few metres away at an outdoor shooting range in Bronkhorstspruit, a small agricultural…