Women footballers play against gender violence in Costa Rica

300 female football players gathered in Costa Rica's capital to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Women from neighbourhoods where they are at risk because of high rates of family violence commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at the Estadio Saprissa, a 24,000 capacity sport stadium in the Costa Rican capital, San José.

On 23 November 2012, we had a great festival / fellowship with over 300 women attending from Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Limon, Turrialba, Los Santos, Guararí, Leon XIII, Pavas, Los Cuadros de Purral, Boruca and other communities. The women are all involved with the Youth Action Foundation, the Special Olympics and Seprojoven, and we enjoyed additional support from the INAMU and the Saprissa Foundation.

"We believe society is responsible for promoting a life without violence for women of all ages and social groups,” said Seprojoven Coach Alfaro Tita. “Our Liga FEM project is dedicated to all women giving strength to this fight with their testimony."

The event included adolescents and youth from the communities where the “Liga FEM: Football for the prevention of violence and discrimination” project is implemented, namely Los Cuadros de Purral, Rincon Grande Pavas, Guararí and Leon XIII.

We had sports and recreational activities, fellowship and community exchanges. Most notably, there was a street football event for meeting and promoting women’s rights, which included the participation of the female players from Deportivo Saprissa, champions of the Costan Rican First Division.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]