Raised in a conservative Hindu Gujarati family, Megha Vora was not trained to react to hostility, though it presented itself often in her community. At university, she befriended Mehul, a black belt in karate, who introduced her to self-defense. Later, when a man known for physically abusing and teasing women threatened Megha, she finally stood up for herself.

In 2000, Megha and Mehul married and began organizing free martial arts tournaments for kids in Mumbai. They followed this by opening their first self-defense center for women in 2014. Since then, they have launched six more centers around India. In total, more than 20,000 women have graduated from the Women’s Self Defense Center’s (WSDC) basic course, which includes physical training, confidence exercises, and preventive training like screaming and verbal de-escalation. Megha serves as the chief instructor at the main center in Mumbai.

“Every day women have these gender differences drilled into our heads,” Megha says. “We’re fighting 6,000 years of culture and conditioning to be quiet. Most of our women aren’t able to scream. These are women overcoming rape and domestic abuse. They are so strong, and this is making a difference. We will never shut this down.”