Safe, Strong and Informed: Why We Are Teaching Our Girls to Protect Themselves and to Understand Their Bodies

Most parents want the same thing for their daughters: that they grow up healthy, confident and safe. Yet in many homes and schools, the subjects that bear most directly on that wish, personal safety and growing up, are the ones nobody talks about. This term at Ameen Islamic Institute, we are beginning to change that, with a new course for our girls called Safe and Strong.

Why this is necessary

Silence does not protect children. A girl who has never been told that her body is her own, that she may say no, and that she should tell a trusted adult when something feels wrong is less prepared, and often more afraid, than one who has.

The same is true of growing up. In Pakistan, surveys of girls’ schools have found that many girls miss class during their periods, and that many girls know very little about what is happening to their bodies. The cause is rarely illness. It is embarrassment, misinformation and a lack of simple facilities. A girl who understands her body, and who attends a school that supports her, loses fewer days of learning and carries less shame.

Our faith asks us to guard what has been entrusted to us. Our children’s bodies, dignity and wellbeing are among those trusts, and protecting them includes teaching them.

What the course teaches

Safe and Strong is a short series of weekly lessons led by trained women. It teaches girls to:

• Understand safe and unsafe touch, and that no one may ask them to keep a secret that makes them feel unsafe.
• Use a clear, loud voice and say no with confidence.
• Follow four simple steps we call SAFE: stay calm, assess your options, free yourself, escape and tell.
• Name at least three trusted adults they would go to.
• Use a few simple, age-appropriate skills to break free and run to safety, built on the karate and yoga our students already practise.

The aim is always escape and help, never a fight. Above all, girls learn one message: if anything ever happens, it is never your fault.

Growing Up Well is the companion course on puberty and menstrual health. Girls learn, in clear and respectful language, what changes to expect and what a period is. Our younger girls begin with everyday hygiene habits, girls in classes 4 and 5 learn about growing up and understanding periods, and later lessons for older girls cover staying clean and comfortable, managing a period at school, when to ask a doctor for help, and what our faith teaches about prayer, fasting and dignity. A female teacher leads these lessons, a female doctor or health worker reviews the content, and mothers are invited to learn alongside their daughters.

How we adopted it

We began by studying how others do this. One of our starting points was a self-defence handbook written for adult women. We found a great deal in it that was valuable: stay calm, keep the goal simple, and get away. We also found much that did not suit children, and we left it out on purpose. We do not teach techniques designed to cause serious injury, we do not use frightening statistics, and we do not describe assault in detail to young students. We adapted what remained for the ages of our girls and the values of our community, and we are checking the religious and medical content with qualified people before it reaches the classroom.

We also looked at the research, and we want to be honest about it. Programmes that teach girls these skills have shown promise, and one trial in Malawi found fewer assaults among girls who took part. The largest trial so far, in Nairobi, did not find a clear reduction. For that reason, we do not promise that this course will make any girl immune from harm. What we do promise is that it will make our girls better informed, more confident and more likely to speak up, and that it sits alongside the work that matters most: a school that listens and acts.

How we keep girls safe while we teach

Talking about safety must itself be safe. Before the first lesson begins:

• Parents receive a clear explanation and give written consent, and any girl may sit out an activity.
• Women lead every session, and no lesson takes place behind closed doors.
• A trained staff member is named to receive any concern, with a clear process for responding and for linking families to local services.
• Nothing a girl shares is passed on casually, and no photographs are taken without separate written consent.

Boys are part of this work too. Short sessions for them focus on respect, boundaries and the rule that no one is teased for something natural. Safety cannot depend on girls alone.

What we expect, and how we will know

This term is a pilot, and we will say plainly what it shows. We are measuring things we can see: whether girls can name three trusted adults, whether they can use their voice and one simple release skill, whether they understand the changes of growing up, and whether our facilities meet their needs. We will share anonymised results, including what did not work, and we will not publish anything about an individual child.

An invitation to parents

You know your daughter best. If you would like to understand the course, see the materials, or share a concern, please speak to your daughter’s teacher or visit the Institute office. We will invite mothers to an orientation before the lessons begin, and we will keep you informed throughout the term. A girl who is informed, confident and supported at home and at school is the best protection we can give.