PNG NRL Bid Academy Participates in Voice Against Violence Session

Aspiring young rugby league talent from the PNG NRL Bid Academy have attended a Voice Against  Violence (VAV) workshop in their respective regions. The workshops were facilitated by the NRL in PNG’s League Bilong Laif (LBL) program, using rugby league’s popular following to help address gender-based violence in the community. 

The participants were young men and women from the National Capital District (NCD), Central, Gulf, Lae, and Goroka, including the East New Britain Bid Academy program. The academy program continues to build on the positive collaboration with the VAV initiative, to equip players with information to identify the various forms of violence affecting people, particularly women and girls in the community, to stand up, speak out and take action against all forms of violence. 

The NCD, Central and Gulf Academies kicked off their 20-Day of Activism Workshops against GBV in PNG, coinciding with the World Children’s Day on 20th November 2025. This served as a lead-up to the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, where Lae, Goroka and ENBP held their workshops on 25th November.

The United Nations theme for this year is “Unite to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls." The theme focuses on online and offline violence against women and girls, urging governments, tech companies, and communities to make digital spaces safer and more inclusive.  

NRL in PNG General Manager Cathy Neap said the main goal of this session was for the players to understand what gender-based violence (GBV) is, how they can contribute toward decreasing domestic violence in their home, community and province, and for them to become advocates in their peer groups. 

“These lessons will definitely help them as rugby league players if they have bigger dreams and goals in life to represent PNG one day and also play in the NRL team one day. Characteristics that a good rugby league player portrays are also found in great men and great women. Those values will carry them a long way in life and build them into successful rugby league players they want to be in the future. And if they don’t, then they’ll become good leaders for Papua New Guinea and in their communities,” she said. 

The Voice Against Violence is an initiative built on the support and commitment of the Australian government to end GBV as part of the PNGAus Partnership program and remains a key priority. Australia stands side by side and walks step by step with PNG and global partners in calling for an end to all forms of GBV, including online. 

Digital Violence or technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (TF VAWG) is one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse targeting women and girls globally. The prevalence rate ranges from 16 to 58 percent globally. Misinformation and defamation are the most prevalent forms of online violence, with 67 per cent of women and girls reporting this tactic. What happens online often leads to violence offline. 

In this era of technology, whenever women and girls are denied equal rights, power, and opportunities, violence is tolerated, normalized, or goes unpunished. 

Meli Indy from Central Academy (Open Division) believes that women can be as competitive as men on and off the field. She admits that it can be discouraging to see negative stereotypical commentary on social media in the rugby league sphere, such as “they (women) are not fit to play”, or “they are not supposed to play, they should be at home looking after kids, taking care of house chores”. After attending the VAV workshop, she is confident that women will continue to build on their achievements and rise to meet challenges head-on in future. 

“Men and women are equal. As women, we need to talk less and show that women can play footy too and rise to the next level,” she said. 

Another participant from the NCD Academy, Benjamin Omai, believes that we can prevent all forms of violence, including online. Benjamin says digital violence has become a norm in PNG but believes programs like VAV can help educate young people to make better choices, preventing tech-facilitated violence and promoting healthy relationships. 

“What I learnt today is a good thing. I will take it back to the academy and share it with my friends, including the coaching staff. I’ll also share it with my family, friends, and at school as well,” she said.  

The workshop aims to empower academy players to identify the various forms of gender-based violence and abuse, to use their voice and take appropriate action against it. Ending all forms of violence against women and girls is therefore everyone’s responsibility. Wherever they may be, women and girls deserve a safe space online and offline, on and off the field. PNG’s theme for 20 Days of Activism this year sums it up well: “It’s My Responsibility – Let’s Work Together to Prevent All  Forms of Violence.” 

PC: Supplied