Annual tourney raises GBV awareness
Elite-Girls 5-aside tournament set for this weekend is aimed at raising awareness on Gender Based Violence (GBV).
This time 19 teams have registered compared to 16 teams in the previous games.
The annual tournament was started in 2020 following the high numbers of GBV cases observed during the Covid-19 period.
Tournament Founder Jessica Lokwalo chose football to relay the GBV awareness because it is one of the games followed largely by both men and women.
Professionals and distinguished dignitaries address attendants before the torunament. In the previous events, the First Lady Neo Masisi, and the City Mayor, Austin Abraham, were invited.
Public Relations Officer at Elite-Girls Aside, Lebole Koontse said that GBV affects not only adults but children as well, hence professionals impart education to parents to raise awareness.
“Statistics show that women are greatly affected but we have learnt that even men and children face GBV, which is why we foster this inclusion when it comes to GBV awareness,” she explained.
They are also working with Loratong Shelter, a local GBV shelter that offers services to GBV victims. Some of the key topics they target include; anger management, drug and substance use, as well as mental wellbeing in general.
For the build-up of their second GBV tournament, they held a GBV march last month from Ba Isago to Three Chiefs Monument as a way of raising awareness.
They have also introduced mix-up games in their tournament, where men play with women at the time to encourage working together.