Photo credit: OFC Media

Oceania Football Confederation staff today donned orange to acknowledge International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and kick off a 16-day period of activism to challenge violence against women and girls.

With orange being the campaign colour, 16 Days of Activism is a global campaign that links 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to 10 December, International Human Rights Day, to highlight that violence against women is the world’s most pervasive human rights breach.

It’s estimated that around two thirds of women in the Pacific are affected by gender-based violence. This is therefore a critically important issue for our communities to address – and one that our football communities can address.

With support from partners UN Women Pacific through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls programme, funded primarily by the Government of Australia, and the European Union, over the following 16 days OFC will conduct a digital campaign sharing 16 ways to act in football to combat gender-based violence.

With a significant proportion of OFC’s online following being men under the age of 45, this campaign is an ideal opportunity to meaningfully engage with one of our primary audiences, who also have a key role to play in ending gender-based violence.

According to Maria Rufina, Solomon Islands Football Federation social responsibility manager, recently in Aotearoa New Zealand for the OFC Women’s Football Conference, the 16 Days of Activism campaign is important “because that’s the platform on which we can use our voice, we can talk to our male allies, we can make people aware what the 16 days of activism is all about, what should we do, what we should not do.

“Having the awareness campaign can help people to be brave, and know that there are also people out there who can help and there are organizations and there are referral places that they could go to assist them.”

The 16 Days of Activism campaign will highlight our confederation’s collective activities, male allies within the confederation, and promote resources while calling on our primary audience to act in their own lives and within their football clubs, organizations, and communities.

16 Ways to Act Now In Football
Day 1, Action 1: Wear orange to show your commitment to the campaign