On The Move: Sport Shines A Light On Homelessness
By Maria Bobenrieth, executive director of Women Win, discusses the impact sport can have on a global scale, ahead of the Homeless World Cup in Amsterdam.
Hundreds of homeless men and women are on their way to Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of people are expected to come out and welcome them, and celebrate their perseverance and resiliency. It’s the Homeless World Cup – an annual, world-class sport tournament that uses football to inspire individuals and shine a light on homelessness. The Homeless World Cup could not come at a more poignant time, as the current refugee crisis is on Europe’s doorstep and has finally grabbed our attention.
I am unable to shed the images that have electrified many of us. The death of three year old Aylan Kurdi and his five year old brother, Galip, is our collective responsibility – as is the plight of all of those trying to escape war, disaster and poverty. They are our brothers, sisters and children. Having a home is a basic human right. One thing is crystal clear – we must act, in big and in small ways, to address this outrageous inhumane human cost in the biggest movement of displaced people in Europe since World War II.
As a girls’ rights organisation, it is our charge at Women Win, to ask how this crisis is impacting girls and women? We need to better and more factually understand what is happening to those either trying to make the perilous journey to a safer country or being left behind at huge personal risk. Why does gender matter in such a situation? Because in times of conflict, “women and girls in particular are more at risk of facing different forms of violence including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) due to the lack of social protection and lack of safe access to services.” And because our experience shows that much of what is happening to girls and women will not likely be reported, photographed, or make the news. Despite the indisputable evidence about the increase in gender-based violence as girls and women become more vulnerable in humanitarian crisis, it will very likely get buried in the deluge of tragedies occurring on a daily basis.
While sport may seem trivial in times like these, we know it has a powerful impact on girls and women, especially those in geographic transition. We have programme partners around the world who are leveraging sport to create a safe space in humanitarian settings for girls and women to rebuild social networks and get access to rights-based information and services that are vital to their wellbeing. For example, Girl Determined is using volleyball with adolescent girls in internal displacement camps in the Kachin State of Myanmar. Another friend of Women Win’s launched her own local initiative called Walk and Talk Women, women’s activity programme with female asylum seekers here in the Netherlands. Soccer Without Borders uses football to help refugee and asylee girls integrate into life in the United States with programmes in several major cities.
The current European humanitarian emergency highlights a global crisis of homelessness, whose definition encompasses a wide range of inequitable circumstances, but whose root cause is primarily fueled by poverty, violence and injustice. The Homeless World Cup gives us an opportunity to experience one intervention that is making a real difference. When you’re homeless or removed from your country, the act of wearing a jersey that says you belong, and going to your ‘home’ pitch to play has an impact that is not easy to put into words.
On this occasion, we call for a collective effort to deepen our investments into homelessness and displacement. In particular, we are eager to see an inquiry on what is happening to girls and women and how we can address their unique vulnerability during this humanitarian crisis. Lastly, we call on the public to show their support by attending the event, talking about the issues, and considering what’s next after the media attention subsides.
Women Win is a proud partner of the women’s tournament of the Homeless World Cup.
