The Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea Incorporation has come up with an initiative to combat Gender-Based Violence by educating the young and reforming the old through sports called the ‘Pink Nose Revolution’.
Dr. Danny O’Brien from the Bond Business School at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia, is visiting Port Moresby and Vanimo in West Sepik Province this week to talk to locals about this initiative conceived by the founder and President of the Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea Inc (SAPNG), Andrew C. Abel, CSM, ML.
Dr. O’Brien is an internationally respected researcher in the area of sport-for-development and sees this Papua New Guinean initiative as ground breaking.
He intends to document the thoughts, actions, outcomes and impacts of those at its coalface and report the findings back in top-tier academic journal publications.
“The initiative is called the Pink Nose Revolution and is an outcome-based policy that emanated from the PNG Surfing Documentary, ‘Splinters’ that has been implemented in the SAPNG’s 11 board-riders clubs throughout the country and is aimed at raising awareness about the scourge of gender-based violence.”
The program has been well-received that in March 2023, it gained the attention of the US State Department’s Sports Envoy Program which saw three American “surf envoys” run surf clinics, visit schools, and host round table discussions with youth in Vanimo and Port Moresby to talk about domestic violence and other topics like alcohol abuse, and access to education and health care.
“The three then shared their learnings at a US Embassy reception attended by State Department and PNG Government officials, as well as representatives from the British Government and European Union. “
Abel plans to address gender-based violence by taking the Pink Nose Revolution beyond the surfing community.
“With Papua New Guinean’s love of sport, the plan is to implement equivalent messaging across the 40 other PNG national sport organisations.”
“A body called Sports Revolution PNG Inc. has been established with an independent board made up of leading PNG sport administrators, to do just that.”
Andy added that he plans to take the message global because domestic violence is not just a Papua New Guinean problem, but a global one.
“Just as the world shares the scourge of domestic violence, so too do we share a love of sport, and therein lies the opportunity.”
Meanwhile the hope is to share the key values, lessons and learnings that underpin this important work so as to highlight the community building potential of well-managed sport-based interventions, and to positively shape the next generation of international sport managers.