UK Edition
Kapow! Meet the Muslim schoolgirls taking back power through fencing
It’s Friday afternoon at London’s Southbank Centre and there’s a flurry of activity downstairs in the cloakroom.
Thirteen lively 12-year-old schoolgirls clad in joggers, t-shirts and foil head masks line up in single file. There’s chatter and laughter until finally – a loud command: “Lunge one at a time like a Mexican wave!” One by one each girl swoops and dives, plunging her sabre through the air with a “YAH!” and an “ARGH!” as the audience whoops and applauds.
There’s power behind these pre-teen masks – but that’s only half of the story. These girls are here as part of the annual Women of the World festival (WOW), raising their sabres to challenge stereotypes. One in particular has just been popped with thirteen mighty jabs: that Muslim girls can’t fence.
‘Muslim Girls Fence’ is a bold project led by charitable organisation Maslaha - which works to tackle long-standing issues in Muslim communities - in collaboration with British Fencing and Sport England.
Over the last three months, twenty girls from Frederick Bremer School in Walthamstow have been taking part in weekly fencing lessons led by former Commonwealth fencer Linda Strachan – in addition to taking part in discussions around their identity, and the challenges they face in the UK today.
The double-discrimination of both religion and gender is a pervasive issue for Muslim women. Project Manager of Muslim Girls Fence, Latifa Akay, tells me that 58 per cent of reported cases of Islamophobia in the UK concern women.
“It is not an easy time to be a Muslim girl in the UK,” Akay says. “Persistent negative media stereotyping, combined with counter-extremism policies that are operating to stigmatise young Muslims, mean that more than ever girls and women find themselves spoken for - as opposed to spoken to.”
Akay explains that the scheme is not about empowerment. It’s about taking back power and helping Muslim girls reclaim their narrative.
The pilot scheme has a twofold objective: British Fencing is keen to make the sport more inclusive and break down the stereotype that it’s an elitist pastime for white men. While Maslaha wants to challenge stereotypes of Muslim girls and raise their aspirations. The goal is to develop a national model that will be rolled out across the whole country.
After lunch, I sit down with two 12-year-old fencers called Assiya and Rodha and ask them what they knew about the sport before they signed up for lessons.
“I thought it was a high-class, white man’s game - it wasn’t really for girls,” Assiya explains. “But I’ve started to realise what fencing actually is. It isn’t just about fighting – there’s something more behind it.”
When I ask what that “something” is, Assiya replies, without missing a beat: “confidence”.
Rodha agrees: “When I’m fencing I feel proud because you know what you’re doing it for – you’re raising awareness about stereotypes and Muslim women. I just feel like it’s a new beginning.”
I’m keen to understand what makes fencing so unique when it comes to engaging young Muslim women in 2016. ‘Confidence’, ‘resilience’ and ‘self-worth’ are three words that pop up on Maslaha’s website, but what exactly does female liberation have to do with a macho duel that dates back to the 17th century – a classical sport that smacks of bawdy Musketeers rather than 21st century feminists?
Akay tells me about an American Olympic fencer called Ibtihaj Muhammad, ranked seventh in the world. Muhammad wears a hijab and made headlines this week when she was asked to remove it for a photo at the South by Southwest cultural show in Austin, Texas.
SXSW later apologised to the fencer – the first Muslim woman to compete for the United States in international competition.
It’s ironic, given that Muhammed has advocated fencing as a sport for Muslim girls.
“She’s spoken a lot about how, as a Muslim woman, she thinks fencing is uniquely accommodating because for the first time she felt a part of a team,” Akay says.
“In the UK, we talk about ‘integration’ and ‘inclusion’ – just being able to do something where you don’t feel like exceptions have to be made for your headscarf is quite important.”
“When most people picture an Olympic fencer, they probably do not imagine a person like me,” Muhammed has said previously.
When I ask Assiya and Rodha what makes fencing so special they tell me it’s because “you’re fighting but you’re not hurting your opponent. It’s just showing how much power you have – and strength.”
That strength is on display today – as well as connectedness. One girl helps another secure a mask over her burgundy headscarf; three minutes later they’re sparring against each other like pros.
A line of tiny fighters lunges forward and backwards; one step then two more.
Rodha tells me fencing shouldn’t be for special people, it should be for everyone. I’m reminded of her words at the end of the session when their teacher Strachan calls out to each pair - “who’s the winner?”
There are a few shrugs, a couple of arms are raised. That’s an easy one - they all are.