Women And Girls Participation In Sports Still Lagging Far Behind: UNESCO Report
With the Olympic Games at its doorsteps, the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has published a new report stating that the ratio of women and girls participation is far from having equal access to sports at any level, professional or amateur.
As its findings showed a decrement in female participation, the organisation has called for a meeting inviting all the 194 Member States to discuss the recommendations to tackle these inequalities.
Read also: Sundeep Verma To Join Gaganjeet Bhullar As Coach For Paris 2024
As per the report, 21% of women athletes and 11% of men have experienced at least one form of sexual abuse as a child in sport. While 46% of girls drop out of sports during adolescence which is 6 times higher than the drop-out rate of adolescent boys.
The reason behind the increase in dropouts is said to be due to the lack of women role models, concerns around safety, lack of confidence and negative body image.
“Since sport is a tool of women’s empowerment, with proven links to success in academic studies and business, the drop-out rate must be tackled decisively,” says the report.
The pay gap in professional sports is also highlighted as one of the reasons behind the number drop. The inequality could be noticed in Forbes Magazine’s list of the 50 paid athletes in the world which do not include a single woman.
One of the policy priorities identified by the UNESCO Game Plan is ending violence against women and girls.
Yet another issue highlighted is the lack of women’s leadership at all levels of sport. Last year only 30% of the world’s largest sports federations were chaired by women.
To address these above-mentioned challenges, UNESCO had scheduled a meeting to discuss the implementation of six UNESCO measures for gender equality in sports at UNESCO Paris headquarters on July 24. The discussion will be held with experts, athletes and activists.
Read also: Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Josh Inglis Guide San Francisco Unicorns To Victory Over Washington Freedom
Here are the six measures suggested by UNESCO:
- Promote women athlete role models harness the power of popular sporting events and develop male “allies” for women and girls.
- To ensure there is equal media coverage and fair representation of women athletes and sports and to support initiatives that increase the representation of women in sports journalism.
- To strengthen and enforce safeguarding standards, laws, and legal frameworks to prevent discrimination and violence in sports.
- To set up transparent and anonymous abuse reporting systems to empower survivors to come forward without fear and enhance judicial infrastructure.
- To set up specific training programs for sports educators, coaches, and other professionals on gender equality.
- Share the voice of women who have experienced discrimination or violence in sports and ensure that their insights are integrated into policy mechanisms.
