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November 4, 2022
This week, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Women’s Rugby League had their first-ever win at a Rugby League World Cup in a match against Canada. The PNG Orchids‘ victory highlights a long journey in challenging cultural barriers and working towards a goal to ultimately “change mindsets and empower girls.”
The PNG Orchids debuted in 2017 as the country’s first national women’s rugby league team. In a country with high rates of gender-based violence and a lack of opportunity for women, the formation of the women’s team came with huge backlash and insults.
PNG is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for gender-based violence. In PNG a woman is beaten every 30 seconds and more than 1.5 million people experience gender-based violence in the country each year. As well as the ongoing violence against women and girls, strict cultural barriers are another obstacle that many in PNG face.
“I couldn’t play when I was living with my family back home because of the culture that we grew up in,” said Orchids captain Elsie Albert who was only able to take up her country’s national sport after she moved away from her family who hold strict views on the roles of women in society. “I think we have moved past that mindset of women not being able to play rugby, we’ve improved from that standing where people saw women as second to men and that we were supposed to be staying at home.”
Many of the women on the team share similar experiences to Albert said head coach Ben Jeffries. “I understand some of these girls’ stories and we wouldn’t wish that upon any individual, some of the stories they have got, but when they get on the field, it is a miracle.”
With rugby being the national sport of PNG, the women saw a huge opportunity to change the mindsets of men towards women there. Since its inception, the team has strived to build awareness and drive behavioral change. The popularity of rugby league is being used to deliver key messages on respect, women’s equality, healthy living and education.
“It’s not just about me, it’s about all the girls I’m representing back home, girls in a society where women are seen as second to men, where you have to be submissive and obey the higher power,” said Albert.
Australian design agency, Helicopter Creative, worked closely with the players to design the team’s logo. Each player was photographed and depicted as powerful sports heroes on billboards and other signage and materials. The name ‘Orchids’ was selected by the team because it is the national flower symbolic of the representation of all PNG women. “The name also drives the message of strength and resilience, to grow and blossom in any condition, symbolic of the strength and courage of these women to stand up for women’s rights,” the agency stated.
At the beginning of their journey, the team faced abuse by fans – many from PNG – during their matches. Now, they’ve seen greater support and greater respect for their sport and talent. “We walked out onto the field and waved to the people in the stands…The feeling from the crowd was unbelievable. They actually gave us great respect. Normally women would not get that respect from the crowd. That wouldn’t have happened a year or two ago… hat’s a massive change, a massive shift in the mindset of our men,” said the PNG Orchids world cup captain Cathy Neap.
The team is continuing to drive a movement for gender equality using rugby as a vehicle to unite the country of PNG.
Source: The Independent
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