Kicking gender-based violence into the past, soccer partners-up

The United Nations says gender equality is catastrophically off track. At the current rate, it will take 300 years to end child marriage, and 140 years to achieve equal workplace leadership representation. Gender-based violence continues to scar society but soccer is making a pitch to end domestic violence through engagement and education.

Gender-based violence is still considered one of the most severe social ills in Europe. Despite the enormity of the challenge, multiple stakeholders are combating it, even some unlikely advocates in sport.

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) categorises violence against women caused by structural inequalities as the most drastic manifestation of gender equality.

Violence can take different forms, such as physical, sexual, psychological or economic. The most common perpetrators of violence against women are mostly those in close social proximity, such as intimate partners but also family members.

Ending gender-based violence and ensuring gender equality is one of the European Union's key objectives, and is also the fifth goal in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Football for change

One of the probably unlikely stakeholders putting an effort in combating domestic violence is football, arguably the most beloved sport in the world.

The GOALSCORE project puts in play this natural attraction to football. It hopes to make a change by creating a training methodology for football coaches to identify abusive, coercive and disrespectful behaviour against female athletes.

It is an initiative involving three football federations (Malta, Portugal, Romania), the respective women’s rights lobbies (Malta Women’s Lobby, Apoio à Vítima, Centrul FILIA), Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), tasked with the research and preparing the training sessions for the coaches, and Euractiv as the project communication partner.

Euractiv sat down with representatives of the three football federations involved in the project, as well as the women’s rights lobbies supporting the effort, to assess the situation and what has been achieved.

Malta’s femicide issues

Malta is a country often shocked by cases of violence against women, which can end in femicide, as happened in August.

The country scores 67.8 points in the Gender Equality Index for 2023, ranking 14th in the EU, with a score 2.4 points below the EU average.

According to Eurostat data in 2021, 26 per cent of women who have ever been in a relationship have experienced violence by an intimate partner during their adult life.

In total, 15 per cent of women have experienced physical violence or sexual violence, while 25 per cent have experienced psychological violence.

The estimated cost of gender-based violence in the country is at €0,4 billion, directly linked to its population of around 531,113 inhabitants in 2022.

The Malta Women’s Lobby (MWL) told Euractiv more efforts are needed to be able to change the society’s perception and reaction when it comes to this phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the Malta Football Association (MFA) is keen on making a change within clubs, with continuous campaigns to raise awareness against gender-based violence.

Portugal partners-up

Portugal scores 67.4 points in the Gender Equality Index for 2023, ranking 15th in the EU, with a score 2.8 points below the bloc’s average.

EIGE does not provide any data on intimate partner violence or sexual harassment at work. Such phenomena remain largely underreported in the country.

However, it estimates that gender-based violence costs the country of 10.41 million inhabitants at least €8,4 billion.

The Association for Victim Support (APAV) told Euractiv that the implementation of GOALSCORE has led to increased awareness within sports communities.

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) admitted that while the learning process has been quite intense, the effort has garnered the attention of civil society and beyond.

The case of Romania

Romania scores 56.1 points in the Gender Equality Index, ranking last in the EU, with 14.1 points below the score for the EU as a whole.

43 women were murdered by a family member and/or intimate partner in 2021. The country does not provide data disaggregated by the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.

Gender-based violence results in economic losses of €16 billion for the country. Eliminating gender inequality could increase Romania’s GDP by 8.7 per cent by 20230, improving the wellbeing of women and girls.

Centrul FILIA activists highlighted to Euractiv the importance of having discussions about healthy relationships and knowing how to respond to abusive situations as crucial steps towards creating a safer society for women and girls.

Through the GOALSCORE project, the Romanian Football Association (FRF) has become more aware of the role they can play in improving the situation of women in football and society.

Better data points needed

Outdated data is a common concern not only in the three countries participating in the GOALSCORE project, but also elsewhere in the EU. This makes the full extent of gender-based violence unknown.

The last EU-wide survey on violence against women, conducted by the Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is almost a decade old. Eurostat is currently undertaking a survey on gender-based violence in 19 Member States, while EIGE and FRA will carry out a survey in the remaining eight Member States.

[By Xhoi Zajmi I Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv's Advocacy Lab ]