Playing for Gender Equality

First published on LinkedIn Thomas Pothet, Paris based MBA student and volunteer with the Jungle Crows shares some early impressions from Kolkata and how rugby is shaping young lives.by Thomas Pothet

At first sight, rugby could be seen as a very masculine sport, but the Jungle Crows story in Kolkata, India, is the proof that rugby is not exclusively for boys, that it can be a vector of women's empowerment giving them the chance to break their social chains.

Jungle crows aims to promote education through rugby to both boys and girls but, as they face many social barriers when it comes to girls, they must enhance their efforts to educate young girls and to empower them. Parents are reluctant to let their girls play rugby as they fear injures or because they consider it as a boy sport or saying that girls should help their mother as part of their “household duties”.

When it comes to girls, Jungle Crows is trying to both change their social conditions as slum kids but also their woman's condition. As they grow up and live in an environment where gender inequalities are rooted in every part of their communities, Jungle Crows gives them an opportunity to break the chains that bound them from reaching their full potential. To do so, several strings are pulled, such as rugby training, social projects (planting trees…), educational projects (scholarships, English classes…) and leadership activities.

Jungle Crows is perpetually pushing those girls to empower themselves in many ways.

Through rugby and social projects, Jungle Crows is teaching values such as passion, solidarity, discipline, integrity, commitment, hard work, trust and team work. Those values and skills learned from various projects are transforming those girls into proactive leaders with a collective mindset. Their leadership skills enable them to lead educational/social projects in their own communities. When they come back home, they teach and spread those values within their communities as young leaders.

Even though rugby plays a big part, Jungle Crows DNA remains education which has the capacity to empower women. Therefore, they have developed several educational projects such as scholarships financing, English lessons at the American Center and leadership training. Many girls playing rugby for Jungle Crows are going to school or college as result of Jungle Crows efforts to finance their tuition fees but also to talk to them and their family about education, about how much it brings to someone’s life and in which way it is a key for empowerment.

Jungle Crows is not only giving the opportunity to those girls to do the same activities as boys but to do it with them, to completely being set as their equal which truly improve their self-confidence.

Girls and boys are training together, playing together and learning together.

Allowing girls and boys to play together is a practical way to teach young boys that boys and girls are equals and can do the same things! When it comes to reduce gender inequalities, empowering girls is important, but it is equally important to educate boys about respecting girls and gender equality.b

Currently, several girls playing rugby for Jungle Crows are also playing rugby at international level representing India in the U18 Indian women's rugby team. Moreover, many girls gained access to education (middle school, high school, university…) thanks to Jungle Crows scholarship programs and can empower themselves by being educated. Not only did those girls empower themselves, but they turned out to be role models within their communities.

Through its projects, Jungle Crows is planting seeds in Kolkata’s communities to change women’s conditions.

Learn more about the Jungle Crows: www.junglecrows.org