Boxer and creative Ilenia Maietta is using art to spearhead a powerful campaign at Newham youth organisation Fight for Peace, writes James Morgan

A boxer holds up their fists in a defensive pose — Ilenia Maietta

Ilenia Maietta, a boxer, creative, and University of East London student, is using art to spearhead a powerful campaign at Newham youth organisation Fight for Peace.

The initiative aims at breaking down barriers to women participating in sport, especially boxing. She told Newham Voices about her journey in boxing and how the campaign came about:

“I always had a bit of a struggle with body image and my relationship with my body. Getting into boxing and focusing more on what my body could do rather than what my body was like helped a lot in terms of understanding what I am capable of and how to push my limits.

“In boxing, I am always pushing myself to do an extra push up or an extra round, and that mentality applies to my life and new experiences too. In society there are places that are pretty toxic to girls and if you don’t feel welcome, you can lose the motivation to continue because you just feel that you are not being taken seriously.”

Although she says she has not had negative experiences of discrimination in participating, there are subtle differences of approach.

“You see the difference between how guys train with each other and how they train with you,” she said. “They actually take each other seriously, they aim for the face, they use their full speed and force. But when it comes to pairing with women they are very delicate or not doing it properly.

“I know that it’s inbuilt and rightfully taught that you shouldn’t cause violence against girls or anyone in general, but if you are in a gym in a boxing session, everyone that walks through the door is aware that we are going to get punched, and we are going to punch.

“My message to men who are boxing with women is that you should treat us equally, just because we are girls and you think we are delicate or smaller or shorter does not mean we are not equal opponents.”

“The women in sport campaign that I worked on recently at Fight for Peace was about getting more girls aware of the women only boxing sessions. I created a visual design which we have used in poster form and displayed at the heart of the Fight for Peace Academy. We are planning to use it in many different formats to get the word out.

“I noticed that a lot of fitness for girls revolves around body image, being skinnier or having exposed abs, but very few focus on the feeling that sport gives you, feeling better and more confident. So through my design I wanted to bring the focus away from appearance and more towards what the sports make you feel and showing the power that you gain.

“Lots of women I have talked to that do boxing express how much more powerful and empowered they feel. So by bringing that feeling out and sharing it we are hoping that it will mean more women and girls can feel empowered, safer and more comfortable.”

Fight for Peace runs women only boxing for 14-25 year olds on Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-7pm. For more information visit fightforpeace.net/timetable or call 020 7474 0054.

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