In an unusual partnership, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the USP students volleyball team have joined together to spread the message about ending violence against women. As the USP men and women’s volleyball players run onto the court for the Easter Volleyball Championship they will be carrying the striking message: Violence Against Women: Not in Our Game Plan. “The students came to us because they needed to equip their team for the competition and the women felt that rather than looking for corporate sponsorship they should promote a message that was relevant to their lives and that of others who will be a part of the competition”, said Edwina Kotoisuva Deputy Coordinator of FWCC. In their proposal the students also highlighted how violence is a problem that young women may face on campus and the importance of raising awareness on campus.

Kotoisuva says that they see this as an excellent opportunity because the students will be coming into contact with an audience that FWCC might not have access to. “There will be so many young people at the Easter Championships and the USP team will be carrying this message for the whole weekend tournament so they will be targeting a critical audience in an effective way”.

The men’s and women’s teams have been having wearing the FWCC Stop Rape t-shirts at all their warm-up matches in the lead-up to the tournament and this has already generated discussions amongst their peers. “As part of this partnership we have also run a session for all the players about the issue of rape and sexual assault and how it affects their lives and how they can assist in prevention efforts”, said Kotoisuva.

The official handing over of the USP uniforms will take place today Wednesday 8 April at 5pm at the USP Gym, Laucala Campus.