Trigger warning: this article contains mentions of sexual abuse.
Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan, born in Marsabit, Kenya in 1978, was the first woman from her town to get a law degree. Born to parents from rival tribes, she grew up witnessing violence against women and intertribal fighting. Instead of working more lucrative job offers in Nairobi, she decided to represent Kenyan people who couldn’t otherwise afford a lawyer. She founded an organization called Horn of Africa Development Initiative, or HODI, in 2003 and started a program that offers soccer coaching and opportunities to play in tournaments to young people in Kenya. She received backlash for her recent addition of a girls’ soccer team, an unheard-of idea in an area where violence against women and girls is commonplace. Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan uses the soccer teams to bring together “representatives of the mutually hostile Borana, Gabbra, and Rendile tribes, and persuade(s) them to participate in conflict management training.”
Although illegal, 21% of women in Kenya between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to female genital mutilation or FGM. This is just one example of violence and discrimination against women — the main problem Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan wanted to solve with her organization; HODI. She registered Africa Development Initiative as a non-governmental organization by 2007, and in 2011, Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan won the Stuttgart Peace Award for providing greenhouses and water tanks for rainwater in several Kenyan villages — along with starting the first girls’ soccer team in the region through HODI. Adan faced terrible backlash — including death threats—for her revolutionary steps towards a more equal community. Her main initiative, “Shoot to Score, not to Kill” builds cohesion by teaching children soccer and preventing violence between tribes. The program also provides a safe space with leadership education and support for the survivors of FGM.
In an interview with World Football Summit, Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan spoke about how there will not be any change (related to the discrimination of women) surrounding football (or in general) “unless and until we all work together.” She spoke about how there are many other women like her in Kenya, in Africa, and all over the world who have a dream to play soccer and use it for social change. She mentioned that encouraging young kids to play soccer together and compete in a healthy way has been pivotal in the movement to combat violence within the targeted tribes in Kenya. Adan is especially passionate about the critical idea that preventing violence against women is not just a conversation for girls and women, it must involve boys and men as well. By teaching boys and girls to play soccer together, she has begun to break down discriminatory mental barriers and initiate cultural change.
By advocating on behalf of her region through the international community, Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan continues to foster support for her important initiatives and inspire other people to do the same, always emphasizing that it is everyone’s responsibility to get a conversation started and to influence positive change.
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