In Beirut, refugee girls and women learn more than self-defense in martial arts class

Palestinian girls train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut. Aline Deschamps for NPR hide caption toggle caption Aline Deschamps for NPR BEIRUT — In a makeshift gym in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp, the participants in this martial arts class are unlearning much of what they have been taught about how girls and women should behave. It's the end of a two-month course in Brazilian jiu jitsu - a form of the Japanese martial art - and the small space rings out with yells and the sound of shuffling as coach Mirella Atallah drills her students on how to get leverage against a much stronger opponent. Mirella Atallah, Lebanese-Canadian, is a trainer of jiu jitsu and former world champion who now trains women and marginalized communities around the world - in societies where there's little awareness about gender-based violence and talking about sexual abuse is considered a taboo most of the times. Aline Deschamps for NPR hide caption toggle caption Aline Deschamps for NPR Atallah, though, doesn't consider it just self-defense. "For me it's important to call it women's empowerment in public spaces, " she says. "After two weeks I felt I was changing - not just in sports but my mental health and everything," says Aisha Saqqa, 18, and a first-year business management student in college. …