PETALING JAYA: Tokyo Olympics bound national gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (pix) has voiced support for initiatives to combat violence against women.
Farah’s decision to lend her voice to physically abused women came on the heels of a similar initiative by the Italian football league (Serie A).
Serie A has pledged to back a global campaign to stop violence against women by having its players, including icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, hit the pitch with a red stripe on their face.
Violence against women is a prevalent, even acceptable, practice in large swaths of Asia, Africa and the Oceania, according to a recent World’s Women report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The Covid-19 pandemic, that has led to lockdowns across many parts of the world, has made it worse for abused woman, giving them no escape from perpetrators.
The campaign, the fourth so far, is in conjunction with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2020, which is observed today. The objective is to use sports to draw global attention to the problem.
“It is important that women be heard and believed. There must be a shift in culture where (it is assumed that) violence against women does not happen, or is swept under the rug,” Farah told theSun yesterday.
The seven-time SEA Games gold medalist said it is important that women, including athletes, have a safe place to turn to should they suffer from abuse.
“Sometimes, women are afraid to speak out for fear of being reprimanded. This should not happen.
“There is an ongoing momentum and it needs to be supported with an avenue where we can speak and be heard. For athletes in this position, they must know they can be heard anytime.”
The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said they have received 2,938 cases of domestic violence against women this year, compared to 1,395 cases last year.
“The number of cases has more than doubled this year due to Covid-19, job losses and deaths in the family, among others,” WAO partnerships director Amnani Abdul Kadir said.
She also lauded the Serie A initiative and called on the Malaysian sports fraternity to do something similar.
“A campaign like this definitely creates an impact, because violence against women is more prevalent than we think, and sending out this message will create awareness.
“Every woman has experienced violence in some form and a campaign in sports can change and shape the next generation.
Amnani said male athletes could send a powerful message to eradicate toxic masculinity by saying they do not need to resort to violence although they are a strong, dominant force.
Sports have proven to be a powerful avenue to take a stand against violence.
In the English Premier League, the players take a knee before every match in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign, while seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton and basketball superstar LeBron James have constantly used their platforms to call out discrimination against coloured people.
