The National Rugby League (NRL) Tonga leads Voices Against Violence to address gender-based violence

Red card for violence against women in Tonga, through the Spotlight Initiative small grants mechanism, UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office has allocated resources to strengthen the capacity of grassroots organisations in Tonga, including the National Centre for Women and Children, Tonga Leitis Association,  Kolomotu’a Women’s Council, and the National Rugby League (NRL) – Tonga.  Funds were used to increase awareness on available services to outer islands and via short message service (SMS); support prevention campaigns through sports with youth; strengthen referral pathways for LGBTQI+ survivors of violence; and provide resources for the care work undertaken by women and girls in communities to safeguard against COVID-19 transmission. 

 “NRL are advocates of health and well-being as well as mental health. The goal is to educate and empower youth and young people to be advocates in speaking out and standing out against violence, all forms of violence,” said Tavake Fangupo, NRL Tonga Manager

With the  project Voices Against Violence, which took off in 2018 and now has additional support as one of the grantees, the National Rugby League (NRL) Tonga uses sport as a vehicle to address gender inequalities and raise awareness among young people about the impact of gender violence among different communities, making NRL Tonga an important advocate for the prevention of GBV through the sports and programmes for youth.  
 
Educating next generation 

 “The programme takes a prevention approach. It inspires the values of respect and care for one another which we believe helps promote a culture that is free of violence. Our game is a great opportunity to set an example to promote gender equity and  provide pathways for girls to play sport.”   
 
“Violence is something that is not really addressed and talked about, and this programme looks at how to empower our youth not just in their homes and lives but for the next generation,” he adds. 
 
By connecting to sports values, Voice Against Violence tackles the issue of domestic violence in a culturally sensitive way, hence ensuring a broader uptake in the community.

“We run Voices Against Violence (VaV) workshops through the schools in Tonga. One of the activities that we found to be very engaging was allowing the students the freedom to come up with solutions to eliminate violence against women and children. Also engaging in team building fun activities that have significant messages behind them. So, the activities in the VaV programme all relate, from being able to stand up, speak out and take action,” explains Joe Kafatolu, NRL Tonga Project Coordinator. 

“This programme is important in empowering women so that they know their rights and they can do anything, and their voices need to be heard. It will help in stopping violence in our country. This programme helped me a lot. We’ve learned important things about violence”, said Amanaki, a fourteen-year old female participant at the youth workshop.

“One activity that appealed to me was called back-to-back. It is significant to me because it is important to have balance between male and female. Men don’t have to be higher than women. We need equality”, echoed Mary, another young participant.

Ending gender based violence requires a whole-of-community approach, touching all dimensions of our lives. Sports leagues and sport players with their strong influence and diverse audiences have a key role to play,  in informing and leading change towards eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.