Lina Khalifeh was studying at the University of Jordan when she saw a friend come to school beaten black and blue. She kept questioning until her friend confessed that her father and brother had beaten her up and took what money she had.

It was then, Khalifeh explained, that she realized that the kickboxing she practiced for fun could help her friend and even change the power dynamics between men and women.

“I told her to report to the police but she said that women can’t do anything. So I decided to train her so that she can defend herself if that happens again,” Khalifeh told Al-Monitor. “We began to train every day in the basement of my parents’ house. While we improved her physical condition and technique, we started to dream of teaching martial arts to empower women in Jordan.” By training her friend, Khalifeh also understood that learning martial arts is not only about self-defense but also a way to prevent violence against women. It gives women the power to walk with confidence in the male-dominated streets of Jordan, where verbal and physical harassment is very common.

The dream came true in June 2012, when Khalifeh opened She Fighter, the first women-only gym in her hometown of Amman. Today, She Fighter has trained 18,000 women through workshops around Jordan, Lebanon, South Korea, Italy and the United States. Among her trainees are 3,000 Syrian women refugees.