Can football reduce domestic violence?

“Domestic violence kills 10 women a day in Brazil”

This worrying statistic was published in the study: The map of violence, published by the Sangari Institute in São Paulo. The study points out that 41,532 women in Brazil were murdered between 1997 and 2007. Which means that a woman was killed every two hours during these 10 years.

The terrifying case of football player Bruno Fernandes has drawn even more global attention to the urgent Brazilian situation. Police reports show that the player's ex-girlfriend was strangled and her body was thrown to the dogs. Eliza Samudi's remains have not yet been found and the police say that Fernandes already had a history of violence recorded in her records. Bruno's cousin confessed to having watched the player kill the mother of his newborn son and accompanied by friends and family.

The brutality of the incident was not unusual for the national reality where the rate of homicides caused by domestic violence is 25.2 per 100,000 people. This index places Brazil in tenth place in the ranking of countries that are champions of homicide with intent to kill in the world. Although these numbers have still decreased insignificantly, in 1997 the rate was 25.4 per 100,000.

In Brazil, the main reasons that cause these homicides are mostly absurd:

“Saying no to sex or wanting to end the relationship are the majority. In 50% of cases the reason is classified as futile and may originate from domestic arguments. 10% are crimes of passion, related to jealousy, for example, 10% are related to drug use and trafficking.”

However, Promundo, a Brazilian non-profit organization, hopes to significantly reduce Brazilian domestic violence. The strategy is to combine men's love for football with informative workshops on preventing violence against women.

In a new project developed by the institution, men are encouraged to participate in a four-month football championship that includes group discussions about domestic violence and traditional gender norms.

Football can be a key methodology for understanding Brazilian masculinity and promoting the prevention of violence against women in the country. In a report on a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa between the 15th and 16th of July 2008 with the Sonke Gender Justice network, Grassroot Soccer and the Family Violence Prevention Fund sought to research the connection between football, the World Cup and teachings on social justice:

“The possibilities surrounding football continue to be enormous for wide-reaching social campaigns in the media, involving both players and teams… between 2010 and 2014. Challenges include the need to strengthen alliances between organizations fighting for women’s rights and other social justice movements to engage the private sector, opinion leaders, idols and that this engagement is integrated with the promotion of gender justice broadly. All of these goals must be designed in such a way that they advance beyond a mere fad. The fundamental objective is to connect with men's interests in a profound way, highlighting the benefits of new behavior so that these values ​​can positively transform society. ”

The project is still in the “pilot” stage and Promundo is seeking financing to take it forward. If its effectiveness is proven, this will be the type of project that can be used even after the World Cup.

Article originally published in English on the blog: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/07/22 by Alexandra Tweten

Read the original article: msmagazine.com