THE TT Football Association (TTFA) and United Nations (UN) Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) Caribbean are now team-mates in the fight to end violence against women and girls, recently kicking off their first partnership with the initiative Draw the Line Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to observe 16 days of activism.

On December 5, at the Concacaf Women's Road to Gold Cup qualifier between TT and Mexico at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the player escort mascots for both teams walked out in Draw the Line Against Gender-Based Violence t-shirts, raising awareness on one of the most pervasive human rights challenges in the world today.

In a UN media release on Tuesday, planning and coordination specialist at UN Women MCO Caribbean Je’nille Maraj, said, “Partnerships between development agencies, the Government, the private sector and sporting institutions like the TTFA with its significant influence on sports people and young sporting fans are critically important to combatting sexism and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), given sports demonstrated tremendous potential to foster gender equality and address the conditions at the root of VAWG.”

Maraj said that according to UN Women MCO Caribbean data, 44 per cent of women in TT have experienced over their lifetime, a form of intimate partner violence.

TTFA’s general secretary, Amiel Mohammed commented on the partnership saying, “The TTFA is really proud to be able to partner with UN Women (MCO Caribbean) and even prouder to be able to have this initiative of drawing the line against gender-based violence. Showing our support for the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence through the UN is a focus of ours and when this opportunity came up with the match window being in and around the same time, it seemed a perfect fit."

UN Women MCO Caribbean is committed to supporting the TTFA to foster an environment and culture of equality, diversity and inclusion in sport. The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, expressed its appreciation to the TTFA for its visible and public commitment and looks forward to TTFA’s continued commitment to raising awareness and further taking steps to end VAWG in sport.

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