Tonga bans schoolgirls from rugby and boxing 'to preserve dignity'

The Tongan government has banned schoolgirls from playing rugby or boxing because the sports are deemed undignified and not in keeping with the island’s traditional culture.

The letter from the ministry of education has caused outrage among many Tongans, who say the directive is outdated and sexist.

Dame Valerie Adams, New Zealand’s two-time Olympic shot put champion, whose mother is Tongan, criticised the ban.

“According to this way of thinking, a proud Tongan like myself could not attain the standing I have in this world. Tongan women must be free to choose their destiny, and not be held back by misguided and stubborn misinterpretation,” Adams said on Facebook.

“Honouring tradition and following passion need not come into conflict. Rugby, like any sport, ought to be embraced by our Tongan women – we’re good at it – don’t take it away!”

Tongan women’s rights advocate Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki said the ban represented an obsolete view. “It takes us right back to the thinking that education is only academic and for girls to remain in that kind of academic lane, sports is just the alternative for boys,” Guttenbeil-Likiliki told Dateline Pacific.

“It is really just taking us back from all the work we have done so far in trying to achieve and bring forward gender equality in Tonga.”

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said her country’s aid program to Tonga was not threatened by the ban, but she disagreed with it.

“As a school student I played touch rugby and I would encourage all the young women to engage in whatever sporting code they are interested in.

“We do provide funding … to Tonga to encourage children’s participation in sports. And so a young woman will still be able to do that, I understand, through their villages, even if this dictate is made by these schools.”

On social media, many expressed anger at the ban, which the ministry of education said was necessary to “preserve the dignity of Tongan women and hold on to Tongan cultural values”.

The chief education officer, Manu ‘Akau’ola, told Dateline Pacific the directive was ordered by the education minister, Penisimani Fifita, due to concerns that children had missed too much class time due to Cyclone Gita, a category five storm that hit the island in February.

“So his direction is not because we’re not supportive of the sporting events, it’s just [to] make up the lost time we’ve lost because of the cyclone,” ‘Akau’ola said.