India: Football as a symbol of girls' rights

Sport should only be something for boys? Chachiyawas, a village in Rajasthan, India, was one of the first villages in the area in which the girls no longer wanted to accept that. Sixty young players came together there - more than enough to put together a syndicate together. However, they initially faced a problem: what they lacked was a suitable soccer field.

Initially, the girls played near the forest. Weeds and other plants grew there, but it was better than nothing. However, the space was also away from the village - too "dangerous" in the eyes of some parents, in which the idea that their daughters play football had never come to love anyway. Some had even banned it.

However, the girls stayed stubborn. And they found a solution: they asked their grandmothers for help. Under their accompaniment, little was turned into against the meetings, the team grew and grew. In the meantime there were more than 80 players.

Consequently, the search for a real soccer field continued. The girls played on a private property for a while, later in the backyard of a restaurant. Finally, with the help of the local girl's rights organization Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti, Mjas for short. The Terre of the Hommes partner organization came behind the idea of ​​the football team and quickly wrote an inquiry to the district government. In turn, this in turn pointed out the schools of the village to finally make a suitable site available to the girls.

This was not well received everywhere: Now the school management advised the girls from playing, on the grounds that this would "not contribute to their future success". The rector even turned to the parents and recommended that the daughters prohibit playing.

But the girls still refused to give up. And in the end, their determination paid off: they managed to enforce the place.

Today, around 50 players regularly take part in the sports units, supported by coaches from the community. With the help of Mjas, the square was recently further improved, cleaned and leveled. The girls can finally kick the ball carefree - without obstacles and stumbling blocks.