Putting the boot into domestic violence
Shamrock Rovers have formed an alliance with Women’s Aid to raise awareness of gender-based abuse
SINCE they entered the Women’s Premier Division last season, Shamrock Rovers have been determined to make a difference. And while that has been on the field, yesterday’s launch of a partnership with Women’s Aid, the domestic abuse charity, proved that they are also trying to make an impact away from the field, too.
The event was evidence of how much the women’s team has been woven into the fabric at Rovers. As Áine O’Gorman, team captain, suggested, it is ‘very much one club’. And you got that feel at Tallaght Stadium, as O’Gorman, Jess Hennessy, Steph Roche and their manager Collie O’Neill were joined by the likes of Stephen Bradley, Aaron McEneff, Lee Grace and Graham Burke from the men’s side.
The strategic aim of this partnership is to raise awareness and funds for Women’s Aid, a charity which has been working to prevent domestic violence for the past 50 years. As part of the scheme, half of all the revenue generated by the women’s season ticket will be given to the charity, while Women’s Aid will also have exclusive branding on the season tickets, which go on sale early next month.
‘First and foremost, it’s about raising awareness and education and then obviously, protecting women from genderbased violence,’ O’Gorman said. ‘It’s great to see the male players here — Lee, Aaron, Graham and Stephen — supporting the initiative as well because they can be leadEngland ers in their own way. It’s a oneclub initiative and I think football clubs, their players and personalities, can be role models and portray positive messages and raise awareness that will ultimately protect women against violence.’
As part of the scheme, Rovers will be conducting awareness training with staff and players to educate them about the issue. They will also hold an event on International Women’s Day in March ahead of their season opener. It will all serve to highlight a societal problem — a reported one in four women in Ireland suffer domestic abuse — that has become exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.
The charity’s own annual impact report last year outlined 31,299 contacts with its national free– phone helpline and face-to-face services, which was the highest ever recorded and a 16 percent increase on the previous year. And evidence suggests that significant sporting events does see a spike in domestic violence.
Studies in the UK have shown that the incidence of domestic abuse increases if England lose or draw a match at a major tournament, while Old Firm games also show a spike of incidents in Scotland.
Groups similar to Women’s Aid have used sport to get their message across in other countries. During the 2018 World Cup, England’s National Centre for Domestic Violence released posters depicting a woman with blood running down and across her face in the shape of the George’s Cross. Below the image read: ‘If get beaten, so will she’, while during the last World Cup in Qatar, awareness adverts were broadcast on telly at half-time and full-time of England games.
In 2015, Costa Rica’s National Institute for Women worked with broadcasters in the Central American country to create an additional scoreboard during a crucial World Cup qualifier against Haiti, which displayed the number of domestic violence calls the police received in real time. At the end of the match, it read Costa Rica 1 Haiti O Violence Against Women 31. It seemed to have a positive effect as during Costa Rica’s next qualifying match, there was a one-third reduction in calls.
‘It is really interesting and it is something that comes up quite a lot,’ Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson says of the perceived link between major sporting events and domestic abuse. ‘To be frank, it is not necessarily that sport and gatherings of men cause this, but where you already have abuse, it can escalate. If someone decides that they are disappointed or angry and they want to take out their
Support: Shamrock Rovers player Graham Burke at Tallaght Stadium frustrations. ‘So, the sporting event itself doesn’t start domestic violence, but where there is already dynamics of domestic abuse in a relationship, occasions like that, just as alcohol doesn’t cause domestic abuse but it can be a de-inhibitor, so it is definitely something that can see a spike, not just around football but other significant sporting events, especially ones that tend to be attended largely by men.’ Shamrock Rovers aren’t the only sporting body that Women’s Aid have engaged with. They have been one of the official charity partners of the GAA for the past couple of years and recently launched their StandStrong campaign in Croke Park, which invites everyone in Ireland to hold a Yoga Warrior Pose next week as a symbol of focus, confidence and courage in solidarity with the one in four women affected by domestic abuse.
Rovers skipper O’Gorman also feels the club are in an unique position to highlight the Too Into You campaign, which has been run by Women’s Aid, which focuses on young people from 18 to 25 and makes them aware of the red flags of relationship abuse as well as teaching them the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
‘I think as a football team and a club, we are in a good position to highlight that campaign that targets 18 to 25-year-olds as well and that is going to be a good initiative for us to all get behind,’ O’Gorman said.
Season tickets won’t go on sale until early next month and the women’s Premier Division doesn’t return until the middle of March — O’Neill and his players are back in pre-season and some friendlies have already been organised on both sides of the border. While the Hoops ran out of steam on their first season back in the women’s League of Ireland, expectation levels are likely to be elevated in their second season.
The TG4 cameras are certain to make the odd visit to Tallaght Stadium in the coming season as Shamrock Rovers mount a title challenge. When they do, they will see the branding of Women’s Aid, a reminder that sport can play a significant role in making the world a safer place for women.