FIFA, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Commission collaborated to initiate the #SafeHome initiative aimed to protect women and children at risk of domestic abuse during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are calling on the football community, along with the World Health Organization and the European Commission, to raise awareness of this intolerable situation which especially threatens women and children in their own homes, a place where they should feel comfortable, healthy and secure” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told in a news release.
Last year the WHO and FIFA formed a four-year agreement to support healthier habits worldwide through sport.
With many families quarantined across the globe after the pandemic, the latest incidents of domestic abuse have seen spikes while at-risk women and children are further pushed into unsafe conditions at home.
“Just as physical, emotional or psychological abuse has no place in sports, it has no place in the home.” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization Director-General.
Infantino also said, “We can’t remain silent on this issue which affects so many people in a negative way. There is no place for abuse in the families, much like there is no place for it in sports. Football has the ability to convey vital societal awareness and we want to insure that all individuals who suffer abuse have access to the appropriate help resources they need through the #SafeHome initiative.”
