Since then, Wangui has become a widely respected advocate for the self-defense classes in the area. The young man who attacked Wangui is one of many thugs in the area who believe that elderly women have supernatural powers. They incorrectly believe that sleeping with them provides “cleansing” and protection against the police, the judicial system and ultimately, jail. “I’m Worth Defending” (IWD) is an organization that sets up community self-defense classes for vulnerable groups.

Senior Project Manager, Margaret Mbatia says that Wangui is one of the many success stories they’ve had since the program began in 2008. “The classes were born out of the World Social Forum that was held in Nairobi in 2007 and have been a huge success, reducing general incidences of rape by 80% in slum areas,” she says. Last year, the Nairobi Women’s Hospital Gender Recovery Centre recorded 2,735 cases of rape. One thousand, one hundred and eighteen victims were adults with 223 of those being women over the age of 60.

However, in the sprawling and dangerous Korogocho slums, the Chief’s Office—where all crimes in the area are reported to first—only two cases of rape were brought forward all year, an indicator that there is something to these selfdefense classes. Ms. Mbatia posits that “something” being assertiveness. She says the community self-defense classes teach more than just kicking and punching. The classes are more about self-empowerment than anything else, and that a lot of rape cases can be avoided by assertiveness. And so assertiveness makes up a huge chunk of the curriculum, as do avoidance, concentration and after-care. But these self-defense classes that teach old ladies how to subdue an Kung Fu Grannies attacker were not always welcome in the community.

At first, the men in the area were vehemently against it, while many women reckoned it a waste of time. Now these classes are widely sought after by all members of the community, because of the impact they’ve had on families as a whole. Take Veronica Muchemi, a grandmother who lives in the Mukuru wa Njenga slums with her grand daughter. She began attending the classes when six of her friends were raped and murdered in the span of one year. Veronica took the classes to protect herself but the skills she acquired ended up benefitting her family as well. One night, she walked in on a man that was about to rape her grand daughter, and she valiantly fought off the rapist with her walking stick. A major complaint by women in the slums before the classes began was that the police did not take rape cases seriously.

They allegedly regarded rape as a crime of pleasure rather than an attack on a woman’s dignity. But now the once scared women of the slums are using their new skills to protect themselves from harm. It may not always be a good idea to take the law into your own hands, but for these grannies, it’s working out quite well.