Are We Losing the Race Against Gender-Based Violence?

Just a few weeks ago, the world was mesmerized by the near-superhuman Olympic performances of athletes from around the world. Years of dedication, hard work and training help these elite athletes build the skills and strength they need to push the limits of speed, precision, and endurance.

Unfortunately, too often their incredible abilities are not enough to protect them from sexual abuse at the hands of coaches, online harassment and abuse by misogynistic spectators, and physical abuse or even murder by intimate partners.

Uganda’s Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei is the latest casualty of the war on women and her brutal murder is a sobering reminder that even elite world athletes cannot outrun the violence chasing them. Kenya and Uganda are home to some of the world’s most elite female runners and, tragically, Cheptegei’s violent death by immolation at the hands of her ex-boyfriend is the third domestic violence-related killing of a high-profile female runner in that region in just the past three years.

Create equitable relationships

While globally 33% experience some form of violence in their lifetime, Kenya’s government reports that over 40% of women there have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lives.

Violence against women is also on the rise in Uganda, with lifetime prevalence of physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner reaching an appalling 56%. Numerous studies have found that rate of gender-related killings is much higher in Africa than in other regions of the world.

The dispute that led to Cheptegei’s violent death was over land she owned. Rather than solidifying their position in society and their security, success makes female athletes like Cheptegei more vulnerable to violence, especially when their partners seek control of their money and assets. In this impoverished region, it happens often.

Across the region, there is an urgent need to close loopholes in domestic violence laws and enact laws that criminalize marital rape, extend customary land ownership rights to women, and increase resources for service providers, shelters, and law enforcement.

But even these fixes are not sufficient. What is needed is a gender-transformative strategy that creates more gender-equitable relationships and works to redistribute power, resources, and services more equally.

Programs that work

Evidence shows that programs that apply a gender-transformative lens with deep community engagement can disrupt the root drivers of violence. Over a decade ago Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) helped co-create such a program, Coaching Boys Into Men.  Today, it is the only evidence-based violence prevention program that trains and motivates coaches to teach young male athletes to develop healthy relationship skills, mental health practices and that violence never equals strength.

By leveraging the power of sports, coaches, and community advocates, the program has helped transform the culture of teams, schools, and communities. Since 2019, this program has been implemented in nine East African countries, including Kenya and Uganda, reaching close to 370,000 adolescent boys and young men and over 1,000 coaches. It reduced sexual and relation violence among participants and increased the likelihood that they will speak out, influence their peers, and become champions of non-violence.

Soccer Without Borders is a partner in this work. With the mission to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change, providing underserved youth with a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion, and personal success, the organization has become a natural partner with FUTURES in delivering the Coaching Boys Into Men program in the US and throughout Africa. Its implementation has been a huge success.

Take it from Jonas, an 18-year-old participant, “I have learned how to step back and let others make personal decisions rather than dictating them, also giving people their space and respecting their personal time. These are important boundaries, helping me to know how far I can go in case I am talking and interacting with someone.”

Increase respect

With this knowledge, Jonas can build healthier, more respectful relationships with his teammates, family, and girlfriend. He’s become a role model for Soccer Without Border’s younger boys and girls, serving as a senior referee in the Kampala Girls League and one of the leaders of the organization’s Youth Council.

Jonas is just one of over 500 young refugee boys at the Soccer Without Border’s Youth Center who have successfully completed the Coaching curriculum and are committed to building healthier communities in Kampala.

We desperately need more programs like this, and many more community and business leaders and government officials determined to end the violence that is costing us so dearly.

We read about the Olympic champions lost to gender-based violence, but not the women and girls who don’t make it onto the world stage before they lose their lives to this horrific scourge. But we need to do better for them too. Our future depends on it.

Leila Milani is Program Director for Global Policy & Advocacy at Futures Without Violence. Jules Murhula is Uganda Director of Soccer Without Borders.