International Women’s Day (IWD)
Ahead of the International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration on the 8th of March this year, we will feature a number of serving women officers and civilians and their thoughts on this year’s IWD theme #EmbraceEquity
Today we feature Special Constable Akosita Ravato Marr, the Captain of the Fiji Police Womens 7s and 15s Rugby Teams, a National 7s and 15s Rep, and also a member of the winning Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua that won the Super Women Championship in Australia last year.
The Fijiana loose forward, constable Marr is a shining example of how a woman can successfully juggle studies, work, rugby and being a mum.
Holding a Post Graduate Diploma in Science and a Degree in Science majoring in biology and chemistry, the 31-year-old mother of two, is currently based at the Southern Division Command Centre in Nabua.
“When we talk about Embracing Equity, to me it means we share resources and responsibilities according to the different circumstances that we have and give the needed resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome,” she said.
“For example in our police rugby team, we have some that are unemployed but are training with us and are also team members during any tournaments we play in, sometimes when we win a prize money and it is decided by our management to be shared among the players, embracing equity would require that the unemployed players in our team get a bigger share of the prize money.
“For those of us who are police officers we get a fortnightly income, but for those that are unemployed the prize money helps them cover their expenses like bus fare and training gear, even as incentives to keep coming and train with our team, this is why they get a bigger share of the money,” she added.
Constable Marr hails from Vuaki, Yasawa and she made her debut in 2013 when she played in the 2013 Oceania 7s championship in Noosa, Australia. She has maternal links to Navuloa, Ovalau, Lomaiviti and started her National duties as a National basketball rep at 15years of age.
“Equity is different from Equality, equity allows people to thrive in whatever field they are in,” she said.
#EmbraceEquity
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