Dozens of young boys gathered at Islamic High School 4 Jakarta’s soccer field for an afternoon program. But the last thing they expected at the start of the session was a coach asking them about violence against women.

“Who believes that violence against women is a vital issue in Indonesia?” Frans Sanger, Football Plus coach and coordinator of the Pledge United #NotMe program, asked the students last
Saturday.

Out of some 50 participating boys, only five raised their hands in response to Frans’ question. The rest looked startled and confused, trying to comprehend what they had just heard.

The Saturday meet-up, which was conducted by non-profit organization Football Plus, wasn’t a regular soccer training program, but a Pledge United #NotMe campaign that aimed at teaching young boys about gender equality.

The idea behind the program, which was held in conjunction with Kartini Day on April 21, was to build awareness among young boys over their role in respecting women.

The program was conducted on April 20-21 in 10 cities across the country, including Jakarta, Bandung and Cirebon in West Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Sentani in Papua.

Using the hashtag #NotMe as a symbol of their movement, the two organizers invited 1,000 boys aged 13 to 17 in an event that combined soccer practice and group discussions on various values, such as identity, equality and sex education.

“By the end of the program, we want the boys to understand that as men, we have to respect women’s rights. We teach them about eight values, such as respect and responsibility, and we dare them to take the pledge to never [commit] any violence against women,” Frans explained.

The popularity of soccer in the country encouraged Football Plus founder John Hamilton to pick the sport in an effort to spread values of equality.

“We use the largest subculture within Indonesia to teach awareness about the issue. Young people love [soccer] — it’s an obvious opportunity for us [...] to get this message to the greatest amount of young people living in Indonesia,” Hamilton said.

During Saturday’s program, participants were divided into two groups according to age. Each group participated in on-the-field sessions and classroom meetings that lasted about 30 minutes.

During on-the-field sessions, passing practice was first on the training agenda, and it didn’t just involve the right techniques on kicking a ball.

Football Plus coach Hein Hoekstra explained that when making a pass, players needed to pay attention to their teammates to work as part of a team.

“If I don’t pass the ball, I don’t respect my teammates, right? Because I think I am better than them. By passing the ball around on the field, [it] shows that we believe our teammates. We are respecting our teammates,” instructed the Dutchman.

“And now we are going to learn about respect — not to our teammates, but to girls. Because God created us equally.”

After practising their soccer skills on the field, the boys were then led to a classroom where they were shown a video of a young girl who spoke about being sexually abused.

Hoekstra elaborated on the messages he delivered on the field with the video by emphasizing the importance of treating girls with respect.

He also cited the National Commission on Violence against Women (KOMNAS Perempuan) in saying that 26 percent of cases of violence against women in Indonesia occurred in public areas.

“In the video, the girl was touched without her permission. Half of the perpetrators who abused women in public areas said that ‘the girls gave me [permission] to rape her’. We should treat girls the way we want them to treat us,” Hoekstra told participants.

Having never been taught the values highlighted by the #NotMe program, participant Fawwaz Luneto said the sessions taught him about how men were supposed to treat women.

“I’ve learned something new about how to respect women, as we cannot live without them,” he told The Jakarta Post.

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