As she concludes a successful athletic career, Laurence Fischer turns her focus to missions centered around the values of sports and education through sports, particularly in Afghanistan. During a meeting with Dr. Denis Mukwege, also known as “the man who repairs women,” she travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where rape is used as a weapon of war. There, she discovers the first holistic house supporting women victims of violence, offering comprehensive social, legal, and psychological assistance. However, there was a missing element: work on the body. Laurence proposes to share her expertise in karate with these women.
This is adapted karate, not self-defense, but a way to learn how to rediscover and reconnect with one’s body through karate, as well as techniques from yoga, meditation, grounding, and postures. The central focus is on pelvic floor work. For an hour and a half, women are guided to gradually regain their sensations.
Laurence Fischer then returns to France and establishes Fight for dignity in 2017. Through another encounter, she integrates her workshop into La maison des femmes de Saint-Denis, a holistic center modeled after the one in the DRC.
“When you say karate workshop, people immediately think of self-defense workshops, that these women will finally learn to defend themselves and become strong women,” says Sabine Salmon. “It’s actually quite the opposite; yet they will still become strong women and will not look down but straight ahead.”
