Joe Teal, Complex Accounts Director and member of Raconteur's Inclusion and Wellbeing Champions, on this year's IWD celebration with a difference

On Thursday 7 April, Raconteur held a self-defence class as part of an initiative for International Women’s Day.

While IWD is a day to celebrate our amazing female colleagues, friends and family members, it’s also an opportunity to examine and discuss the work that needs to be done to address a societal crisis which, alarmingly, is only getting worse.

Statistics relating to violence against women are startling. While men and boys are also the victims of violence, girls and women are disproportionately affected, with a recent UN Investigation finding that 97% of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment or assault in their lives. 

The stories which hit the hardest are often the ones that are closest to home; Sarah Everard being just one of many examples from the last few years. With Raconteur being a vibrant, London-based company and part of an industry famed for its social life, the Inclusion & Wellbeing team felt that it was imperative to not only raise awareness of the issue, but also equip our team with actionable tools to use should they find themselves caught in a dangerous situation.

So we called in the experts to help. On a chilly afternoon on Finsbury Square, London Self Defence Academy (LSDA) instructor, Sam, ran a self-defence class aimed at instilling confidence and teaching practical techniques to apply in real-life situations.

The first, and perhaps most important, lesson was to try to remove yourself from the situation completely. Sam went on to show the team a variety of different ways to defend oneself from an attack (you can see some of LSDA’s methods on their YouTube channel), when the option to get out of the situation simply isn’t possible. 

The great thing about these techniques is that they are effective for and against anyone of any shape or build. By identifying weak spots on your attacker’s body and leveraging body weight, you can nullify any potential disadvantages you may face in terms of youth, size or strength.

Outside of the physical techniques we learnt, Sam offered some really simple but smart actions to take to ensure we are looking out for one another in the best ways we can. For example: establish a buddy system after a work night out.

This is where you are assigned a buddy to stay in contact with until you both make it home (this could be done through phone calls or WhatsApp messages). Of course, it isn’t a fail-safe system, but it does add a layer of reassurance in knowing you have someone at the other end of the line who knows your whereabouts and movements.

As colleagues, it’s so important that we look out for one another. As the evenings get lighter and another wonderful London summertime approaches there will be industry events, welcome drinks, leaving parties, team socials and many other events to be enjoyed, which sadly, could lead to us having to remember and implement the skills we learnt in the session. Of course, we hope this doesn’t happen, but at least we can take confidence in the fact that one small thing we took away from the session could potentially be a lifesaver in the future.