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Free Self-Defense Classes for Dunedin Muslim Women

A self-defense teacher in New Zealand’s second largest city of Dunedin is now offering a free class specifically for women who wear hijab, hoping the course will give Muslim women defensive options, Otago Daily Times reported.

“It’s just a three-hour course I’ve organized in partnership with the Omani students association here on campus,” Bell Murphy said.

Murphy is an accredited self-defense teacher and has taught in Dunedin for six years.

Both before and after the shootings of March 15, Dunedin Muslim women reported on social media of people grabbing at their hijab.

Due to concerns about Islamophobia, she promised to maintain the privacy of those attending.

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“The location will only be revealed to those who register closer to the time,” she said.

Terrorist Brenton Harrison Tarrant killed 50 Muslim worshippers in March 15 attacks as he targeted Al Noor and Linwood mosques.

According to the terrorist’s manifesto, Dunedin’s Al Huda Mosque was the original target of the March 15 shooting.

To support Muslims, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern visited the Al Huda Mosque and the An-Nur early learning center and met with members of the Muslim community two weeks after the shooting.

Murphy is not the only Good Samaritan to offer help to Muslims in Dunedin.

After the attacks, several good Samaritans stepped up efforts to install security doors and CCTV camera at Dunedin’s Al Huda mosque.

Among the first Muslims in the Otago region was the Chinese immigrant in late 1800.

By 1995, the number of Muslim families permanently residing in Dunedin and the number of overseas students had grown rapidly and there was a need to establish a mosque in Dunedin.

The Otago Muslim Association Incorporated (OMA) was thus established in that year with the aim of catering for the needs of Muslims in the city of Dunedin and the provincial regions of Otago and Southland.