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The Contribution of Sports to Gender Equality and
Women’s Empowerment1
Allison Huggins and Shirley Randell2
Abstract
In both subtle and explicit ways, women face many barriers to participating in
sports, which prevent women and girls from reaping the many benefits that can
be gained from playing sports and engaging in physical activity. Around the
world, women encounter discrimination and stereotyping. Women athletes
receive lower levels of media coverage, and are subjected to sexist and
derogatory language in the media and from people in their communities. The
sporting world epitomizes many of the gender stereotypes which persist around
the world today, and has proved to be highly resistant to meaningful gender
reform. By creating opportunities for women and girls to engage in sport,
communities and societies empower women and girls on an individual level, by
promoting self-confidence, leadership, teamwork skills and a sense of
achievement. They also challenge existing gender norms and roles within
society. Sport provides a space in which women can renegotiate concepts of
femininity and masculinity, challenge stereotypes which label women as weak
and inferior, and demonstrate to their communities what they are capable of
achieving. As such, promoting girls’ and women’s involvement in sports is an
important tool in gender equality and women’s empowerment and, more broadly,
in development and social change.
Introduction
I am honoured to make the opening keynote speech at this first International
Conference on Gender Equity for Social Change in Rwanda. I am sure that this
conference will make a significant contribution to gender equality and women’s
empowerment in sport in this country.
I speak on this topic with some experience and considerable conviction. I will
begin with my experience as a girl child, as a mother, using examples from my
children’s participation in sport, and as a researcher, investigating the
involvement of girls in Australian sport in the 1970s. The paper will then address
some statistics on current participation of women in sports, legislative initiatives,
the involvement of the private sector and UN agencies in sport, and then go on to
discuss the positive benefits of sport in moving towards gender equality and
women’s empowerment.
.Women's Marginalization and Trivialisation in Sport
1 This paper was first presented at the International Conference on Gender Equity on Sports for
Social Change, Kigali, 2007.
2 Biographical note at end of paper.
Disparities in Participation
In the 1940s in Australia, there was considerable discrimination between men’s
and women’s, girls’ and boys’ sport. As a child I was the first girl in a family of four
children, with one brother 15 months older than I, and one brother 15 months
younger. My young sister was born three years later. So I spent my early
childhood days in the company of my two brothers and their friends, climbing
trees, playing cricket, kicking a football. My mother was criticised for allowing me
to play with the boys, and I was called a ‘tomboy’, in those days a derogatory
term for girls who were assertive and not ‘feminine’. But my mother was
determined: she taught me swimming along with my brothers, and paid for tennis
lessons for all of us each weekend, even though this was uncommon for girls in
those days. So from my earliest years I was conscious of gender discrimination
in sport.
When I married and had children my consciousness of that increased. I am the
parent of two boys and two girls. Both my husband and I were enthusiastic about
their involvement in sport: my husband because he had represented our state,
Western Australia, in athletics and hockey as captain of the team; myself
because of school representation in swimming, lifesaving, tennis and hockey,
where I participated in spite of my self consciousness about my physique,
especially my growing growing breasts. In the 1950s in Australia, sport was a big
thing for boys, both in and out of school. Girls were encouraged in indoor
activities, like reading and home duties, so I was privileged to be encouraged to
enjoy outdoor activities. Accordingly, in the 1960s and ‘70s, we made sure that all
of our children learned to swim early, were physically fit and had every
opportunity to excel in sport. Despite our busy schedules, we attended their
sports carnivals and encouraged them to practise and to excel.
I noticed the difference in participation between boys and girls again when I had
an opportunity in my professional life to visit many schools around Australia
during the 1980s. I noted that while boys spent their lunch hours and recess
times playing sport on the playgrounds, girls sat on the edges, watching the
boys, talking to each other, or reading books. The boys ‘owned’ the playground
space.
I have described these inequalities between boys and girls in participation in
sport in Australia, where I have lived most of my life, but over the last 12 years of
my work in the Pacific, Asia and Africa I have seen the same disparities in the
participation of the sexes in sport.
Disparities in Rewards
Differences were also clear in the rewards that boys and girls received for their
participation in sport. In the case of my family, each of my children won their
section of the cross-country running competitions in the Australian Capital
Territory Championships. The two boys came home with cup trophies, the two
girls with two spoons. My two sons were national rowing champions when my
two daughters asked their coach if he would teach them rowing. It was only when
they told him that they wanted to row in the Olympics that he agreed to coach
them. Within the first year they won the Australian Under 23 Rowing
Championships. Once again there was the usual discrimination in the trophies
handed out at the regattas, The boys came home with huge cups, the girls with
small ones. (Some of my friends even warned me against allowing the girls to
continue rowing, in case their arms became too ‘muscley’, and they became less
attractive to boys).
In both amateur and professional sport, where the value of prizes for winning
championships has moved from trophies to money and has kept increasing in
value, men have taken home more money than women, until very recently where
there are now some exceptions. For example, for the first time since its inception,
the 2007 Australian Open Tennis Championships gave equal prize money for
both male and female winners. It is encouraging that this is now the norm for all
Grand slam tennis tournaments except Wimbledon.
Disparities in Media Coverage
There have also been disparities in the acknowledgments for sports success in
the press. My boys’ rowing wins were written up in the national and state
newspapers; the girls’ were hardly mentioned. Twenty years later, my son and my
daughter are coaching elite rowing squads in Australia. My son’s achievements
are trumpeted; my daughter’s, Australia’s first woman Olympic rowing coach, are
rarely reported.
When I worked for the Commonwealth Schools Commission in the 1970s, I was
Convener of a study of Social Change and the Education of Girls. One of my
research tasks was to scrutinise the press for evidence of discrimination against
women and girls in news coverage. One glaring disparity was in the sports pages
where we found that there was rarely a photo of a female sportsperson, and the
coverage of their activities was less than 5 percent of all sports news.
Thirty years later, there have been some changes in Australia and women are
much more visible. A contributing factor has been the success of Australian
women on the world stage at the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games
and World Championships. However, examples from around the world show that
women continue to face many of the same obstacles today as they have for
centuries.
An examination of news articles in the New Times for the month of March 2007
showed that female athletes were mentioned in significantly fewer articles, and
comprised only a fraction of photographs, compared to male athletes. Women
were mentioned in only seven articles without pictures, out of a total of 631, thus
women received only one percent of the total coverage. These stories included
one on Rwanda being selected for the volleyball championships in Khartoum
Sudan, and one on the Rwanda national women’s soccer league preparing to
send a team to the inaugural Cecafa women’s championships in Zanzibar. Of the
articles with pictures, only nine included pictures of women, compared to 365 of
men. Four of the stories showed photos of Rwandan women athletes and five
showed international female athletes. One article reported on a basketball
tournament for eight men’s and four women’s clubs in the Kigali Challenge Cup;
one reported on a monthly golf tournament, with a photo of Rowena Ingabira
winning the ‘ladies’ category; one reported on five tennis youngsters starting a
ten-day training camp in Burundi, with a photograph of Lize Karenzi; and one
showed a group of women winners, captioned “humble faces”, and reported
Nyiransabimana being selected to compete in the Mombasa World Cross
Country Championship. Three of the four photos of Rwandan women
accompanied stories about both men and women. The five photos of
international women included three of tennis players, one of scantily-clad women
accompanying Jamaican singer Sean Paul as a musical attraction for the
opening of an international cricket event, and one of Maradona’s daughter
accompanying a story about her father.3
Women athletes are simply not accorded the same level of publicity or visibility
as men. This problem is not specific to Rwanda, or even to the developing world.
In America, Europe, Australia and other developed countries, women’s sports are
given less television airtime and receive significantly less newspaper coverage
than do men, to the detriment of female athletes. Women who have worked just
as hard as male athletes in order to compete on the international level are not
given the recognition that comes with media coverage. They are seldom hired for
the lucrative product endorsements that male athletes receive.
Lack of Female Role Models
Sports personalities flood news headlines, endorse all varieties of products and,
in this globalized world, are among the most recognized celebrities worldwide.
Even children in remote rural African villages wear T-shirts and carry notebooks
depicting football stars who play for Manchester United or Arsenal, and can name
their favorite players. These stars serve as role models and idols for children
around the world, particularly during major sporting events, such as the World
Cup. Yet female sports figures are noticeably absent.
3 New Times, 1-30 March, 2007, Research conducted by Alice Umulisa.
As a result, girls who aspire to participate in sports have less exposure to female
role models. Consequently, they are less likely to benefit from the positive
example that these figures can serve. An example from research conducted in
Lusaka and Kabwe, Zambia by the Swiss Academy for Development illustrates
this dearth of female sports role models. When a sample of boys and girls were
asked to name their sports idols, 61 percent of girls could not name a
sportsperson at all, and of those who could, only 19 percent mentioned a woman.
Only 13 percent of boys questioned could not name a sports idol, and none
named a female sports star.4 Without female athletes to look up to, girls miss out
on the encouragement, inspiration, and exhilaration that can come from looking
up to, and cheering for, a sports idol.
An exception to this has been noted every two years, during the coverage of the
summer and winter Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee and
networks covering the games have made a concerted effort to give equal airtime
to women’s and men’s events. It is no coincidence that in the months following
the games, there is a surge in women’s participation in sports, 5 this in spite of
lower numbers of female athletes. Women comprised 40.7 per cent of
participants in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games6, a record in women’s
participation. However, many countries send fewer female participants than male,
and some countries send no women at all. Once every two years, as girls around
the world see women excel in figure skating, gymnastics, running, skiing, and
many other sports, they are inspired to participate in physical activities
themselves, and are encouraged by the knowledge of what women can achieve.
Use of Discriminatory Language
Even when women’s sports do receive media coverage, the language used to
describe women athletes reinforces notions of inferiority or difference concerning
women’s athletic ability and the acceptability of women’s participation in sports.
Many of society’s gender stereotypes find some of their most vehement
expression in the hyper-masculinized world of sports. These perceptions are
reinforced, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, both at the school and community
level, through the media, and in popular culture.
The most shocking recent example is American commentator Don Imus’s racist
and degrading remarks about the Reuters University women’s basketball team,
who were playing for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s
championship. Describing the players as ‘nappy headed ho’s’ - a term belittling
their physical appearance and alleging their sexual promiscuity - the American
4 SAD-Evaluation “Gender, Sport and Development” in Zambia, June 2005 (published 2006).
Reported in Meier, M., “Gender Equity, Sport and Development: Working Paper,” Swiss Academy
for Development, 2005.
5 Women’s Sports Foundation website, available at: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-
bin/iowa/index.html
6 Hannan, C. “Challenging the Gender Order,” Opening Keynote Speech at the Fourth World
Conference on Women and Sport, Kumamoto, Japan, 11-14 May 2006.
commentator at once summarized and epitomized gender stereotypes which
persist in women’s sports, and put down all of the hard work and achievement of
these women, who finished the season as the second best team in the United
States. In many media outlets, women are not given serious credit as competitive
athletes in their own right, but instead judged and ascribed value on the basis of
their physical appearance and sexuality. Thanks largely to public furore over his
remarks, Imus was taken off air by the news agency for which he worked.
Though this example may be an extreme case, other examples of stereotype and
bias pervade the way that women’s sporting competitions are covered within the
media. On 26 March 2007, the Age newspaper in Australia, reporting on a female
swimmer’s success at the World Swimming Championships, printed the headline
“It is so fantastic! Girls beat the world to grab first gold".7 So even today adults
are divided into men and girls, reinforcing notions of women’s inferiority by
equating them with children. Moreover, analysis of Olympic coverage in
consecutive years shows a persistent bias against coverage of women’s events,
with no improvement over time.8
Another study which analyzed hours of media commentary to compare coverage
of men’s and women’s University-level basketball competitions in the United
States, revealed that men’s games and performances were used as a standard
by which to judge and compare women’s performance, that non-parallel and
sexist language was used to describe the female athletes and to assess their
performance, that assumptions were made as to women’s relative physical ability
and athleticism, and that women’s games were continually qualified as “women’s
basketball”, implying inferiority of the sport.9 Overall, such coverage works to
entrench gendered notions of women’s abilities and capacity to participate in
competitive sports, and establishes a standard of performance which is judged in
comparison to men’s, rather than in its own right.
Cultural and Religious Barriers
Around the world, cultural and religious factors prevent women and girls from
engaging in sport. From an early age, boys are encouraged to participate in
sports, while girls may be told to stand and watch from the sidelines. An extreme
example in the past was in American football, where scantily dressed women
stood at the edge of the field to cheer on the male competitors. Although, it
should be noted that now cheer leaders have become acrobatic specialists,
participating in their own sport of cheerleading. This has become one of the most
7 The Age, “It is so fantastic! Girls beat the world to grab first gold,” March 26, 2007.
8 See Higgs, C, K Weiller, and S Martin,, “Gender Bias in the 1996 Olympic Games,” Journal of
Sport and Social Issues, Vol. 27, No. 1, 52-64 (2003); Eastman, S. and Billings, A., “Gender
Parity in the Olympics: Hyping Women Athletes, Favoring Men Athletes,” Journal of Sport and
Social Issues 23 (2): 140-170 (1999).
9 Blinde, E. Greendorfer, S., and Shanker, R., “Differential Media Coverage of Men’s and
Women’s Intercollegiate Basketball: Reflection of Gender Ideology,” Journal of Sport and Social
Issues 24 (2): 192-213 (2000).
dangerous female sports played in America, leading to some catastrophic
injuries, and is the biggest sports danger for girls in high school in America10. For
example, girls are sometimes flung up to four meters in the air and are supposed
to land in a handstand position on the arms of a man on the ground. If he loses
his balance she may fall, causing head and spinal trauma, and occasionally
leading to death11.
In many countries, women are socialized to play more ‘feminine’ sports, like
handball, and those who decide to cross these gender lines to play football may
be subjected to harassment. Nonetheless, as women and girls attempt to engage
in a wider variety of sports, they may encounter different forms of resistance
imposed upon them by the societies in which they live.
I observed cultural and religious barriers to women and girls participation in sport
in the Pacific and in Asia. In the Pacific, village elders forbid women and girls to
wear shorts and until very recently they have had to compete wearing skirts. In
Muslim countries like Bangladesh, it has also been the convention that women
and girls, if allowed to play sport at all, compete in their long skirts and behind
their veils. In Africa and other developing regions, the heavy burden of household
chores and responsibilities imposed on girl children may limit the time that they
have to engage in sport activities. The lack of time, coupled with cultural and
religious barriers to participation, prevents many young girls from joining in
sports.
Other discriminatory practices limit women’s opportunities to participate in sports
in an equal capacity. The prestigious Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta,
Georgia in the United States, continues to uphold a male-only policy. More subtle
forms of discrimination also persist. Men’s sports teams may be given
preferential access to sports fields or weight rooms, and men’s competitions are
often scheduled for times of high visibility, while women’s are relegated to times
when there are likely to be fewer spectators. Less then 20 years ago, my mother
told me of her frustration when playing club lawn bowls in her 80s, that the men
had the use of the grounds all weekends and three of the weekdays, and that the
women could only play on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Furthermore, the women
had to provide the men with morning and afternoon tea on the days they were
playing.
Hope for Policy Reform
Despite advances in gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide - in
the business place, politics, academia, and on the sports field - women continue
to lag behind men in opportunities, support and resources. Thanks largely to
years of advocacy work by committed individuals, many themselves professional
athletes who have battled discrimination in their respective fields, the policies of
10 Randall Parker, “Save the Cheerleaders, Save the World”, ParaPundit, 31 March 2007.
11 Ibid.
major sports organizations have begun to change. Organizations have emerged
to support opportunities for girls and women to become involved in sports, such
as the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and
Women (IAPESGW), and the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by tennis
champion Billie Jean King. Moreover, the International Working Group on Women
and Sport has been organized to consider policies to advance the involvement of
girls and women in sports. The declarations which have emerged from their
World Conferences on Women and Sport call on governments, sporting
organizations, and individuals to promote opportunities for women and girls to
participate in sport12. These included the Magglingen Declaration, which identifies
participation in sport as a human right, and refers to the need to prioritize women,
girls and other marginalized groups within sports initiatives; the Brighton
Declaration, which sought solutions to address imbalances and to accelerate the
advancement of women’s participation in sports; the Windhoek Call for Action,
which stressed the linkages between participation in sports and the promotion of
health, education, and human rights; and the Montreal Communique, which
called for the development of a sustainable infrastructure on which to build
women’s sports opportunities.
Today, women have greater opportunities than ever before to engage in sports
and recreation, up to the professional level. However, the number of female
athletes lags behind the number of males in all countries around the world.
Moreover, women are significantly under-represented in coaching positions,
management of sports teams, and as referees and umpires. The absence of
women at high levels limits the potential for meaningful reform toward equality in
women’s sports.13
Equality has been a major focus of advocacy efforts. As noted above, all of the
major tennis tournaments, with the exception of Wimbledon, now offer equal
monetary prizes to the male and female champions. The Royal and Ancient Golf
Club in Scotland, considered the world’s leading authority on golf, permitted
women to play in its Open Championship for the first time in 2005.14 Within the
International Olympic Committee, women’s and men’s competitions have been
added for almost all sports. Moreover, the Committee has promoted a policy to
include women in management structures both at the international and country
levels. America’s Title IX policy, which was passed into National Law, mandates
that within all publicly funded secondary schools and universities, equal funding
be allocated to women’s and men’s sports. This policy served to rectify years of
practice in which women’s sports departments in these institutions were allocated
substantially less funding than popular- and revenue earning- male sports such
as American football and basketball.
12 See website of the International Working Group on Women and Sport, available at:
http://www.iwg-gti.org/e/brighton/index.htm
13 ibid
14 Hannan, 2006.
In Rwanda, women are seeing increasing opportunities to become involved in
sports. New sporting opportunities are blooming, such as women’s football and
volleyball leagues. The Association Nationale pour la Promotion de la Sport
Feminine has been established to oversee and advocate women’s participation
in sports. The 25 sports federations in Rwanda have registered both men’s and
women’s teams, and women are participating in ever greater numbers.15 Yet,
undoubtedly, Rwanda has a long way to go to ensure that girls and women have
equal opportunities to engage in sports, particularly within schools and
communities.
Benefits of Sport
Having addressed some of the challenges facing women’s and girls’ participation
in sport, let us turn to the benefits that they experience when these challenges
are overcome.
Health. By participating in sports, girls can derive many of the benefits long
reserved for boys. Physical activity develops healthy life style habits and is
beneficial for physical and mental health. Just four hours of physical activity a
week has been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, such as breast
cancer and heart disease. Developing such positive habits in childhood can have
life-long positive benefits. Moreover, the beneficial effects of sport on individual
health accelerate overall health indicators of the community.
Confidence. Participation in sports can help to build self-confidence, a crucial
component in empowering girls and young women to take on new roles and to
challenge the barriers that they encounter. Moreover, participation in sport
promotes body consciousness, which has been shown to reduce rates of
teenage pregnancy.16
Teamwork. Membership on a sports team has positive benefits in terms of
building relationships between team members, and teaching teamwork skills,
which can later be useful to women in a professional environment.
Role Models. Sport can also be used to motivate groups of supporters by role
modeling. Girls can benefit from the encouragement and leadership of a coach,
who can serve as an important role model and trusted confidante for them as
they manoeuvre the difficult period of adolescence.
Academic Success. It is recognised that there is a strong connection between
participation in sport with academic success. Girls who participate in sports tend
to be more focused, disciplined in their studies and successful in school.
15 Mutara, E. and Chaka, I. “FIND TITLE,” The New Times, March 8, 2007.
16 See Women’s Sports Foundation website, available at:
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html
Workplace Skills. Sport contributes to development of a work ethic, organisation
and time management skills, fund raising capacity, and positive character traits,
such as accepting others’ personality flaws and learning to work towards
common goals. Sport also gives practice in developing positive competition
between supporters.
Community Development Participation in sports is also intrinsically linked to
community development initiatives. The values which sport enshrines -
teamwork, inclusion, and personal achievement - build a strong foundation for
personal and community growth.
Economic Development. In terms of economic growth, creation of sports teams
can provide jobs as athletes, coaches, managers, and administrative staff; the
worldwide trade in sporting goods can provide opportunities for product exports;
and the revenue brought in by hosting major sporting events can be used to
support economic growth in other areas.
Peace Building. In post-conflict environments such as Rwanda, sports have
been used effectively to promote reconciliation between divided groups. Sporting
events present an opportunity to bring groups together in a forum which is
competitive without being adversarial, learning to work through and see beyond
their differences. Moreover, in countries divided by civil conflict, support for a
common national team can unite divided parties behind a common cause.
National Pride. The USSR and other eastern block countries along with the
Canadians in the 1970s directed millions of dollars into developing Olympic
sports in an attempt to develop national pride and patriotism. This is an important
aspect to consider in Rwanda given the commitment to unity and reconciliation.
Sport as an Engine of Gender Equality: Empowering Women
through Sport
In most cultures, sports have traditionally been divided along gendered lines,
often reflecting the values and stereotypes underlying that society’s notions of
masculinity and femininity. Traditional ‘male sports’ often emphasized brute
strength, aggression, or mimic war-like behaviour; while ‘women’s sports’, such
as dance, valued the properties of grace, delicacy and, in many contexts,
mimiced or expressed forms of sexuality. Women and men who showed no
interest or skill for these sports were considered less feminine or masculine, and
crossing these gender lines was seen as a defiance of social norms.
As more women and girls come forward to defy prohibitions which prevent them
from playing particular sports, they are at the same time challenging existing
gender roles and patriarchal structures. Each time a girl has the courage to join a
boys’ football game, or better yet, starts an all-girls football team, she
demonstrates to the boys in her community that she is tough and can compete
on an equal level, challenging gendered norms which view women as fragile or
inferior. In societies where women’s roles are predominantly confined to the
domestic sphere, and where they are not expected or permitted to participate in
public life, participation in sport can challenge these barriers and enable women
to assume new roles within their communities. Thus, sports provide an
environment in which gender norms, and accepted conceptions of masculinity
and femininity, can be renegotiated. In sports, values such as aggressiveness
and competition are valued, and sports fields are an acceptable territory in which
women can demonstrate these qualities. As these values become more
entrenched, gendered stereotypes are slowly changed, and women who exhibit
these qualities become valued by the society.17
Right to Play18, an organization which advocates the right of every child to sport
and leisure activities, has shown how creating opportunities for girls to participate
in sports can challenge these gender norms in a way which has a lasting impact
on gender roles. Working in Nyagurusu, Tanzania with Congolese refugees,
Right to Play has set up sports activities for girls, with overwhelming success.
The girls benefit from participation in sports as well as from the leadership of
female coaches, who have become widely respected role models within the
camp community. Moreover, though Congolese society traditionally forbade girls
to play sports, many within the camp believe that the refugees will return to their
homes with an appreciation for the important role that sport can play in the lives
of young girls. As Mama Salima, one of the coaches, explains, “ "For some girls it
will be good for them, because those that would prevent them, namely their
parents, have accepted sport and play in camp and so when they return to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, they should still be free to continue."19
On an individual level, participation in sport empowers girls, giving them
confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, which they carry with them for the
rest of their lives. In a speech addressing the Pasifika netball challenge in
Waitakere, Hon. Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, the first Pacific woman in New
Zealand’s Parliament, highlighted the role that girls’ participation in netball has
played in empowering young Pacific girls in New Zealand. “There are many
Pacific role models in netball and opportunities for leadership in sport arise early
for our young Pacific girls – becoming a team captain, going on to become
coaches, umpires, club captains and administrators. The leadership experience
gained at a young age through sport can and should spur our young Pacific
women to strive for leadership positions as they grow and become adults.”20
17 Sever, C., ‘Gender & Sport: Mainstreaming Gender in Sports Projects,” Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation, 2005.
18 Right to Play website, available at: http://www.righttoplay.com/site/PageServer?
pagename=tanzania_mamasalima_march2007
19 ibid
20 Pacwin internet news bulletin, 20 March 2007
Furthermore, research has shown that, in a highly masculinized work
environment, team sports play a role in socializing children to work within certain
organizational structures, preparing them for their entry into the workforce.
Without accepting that these environments should, or must, be the norm, sports
can help girls to gain skills which will enable them to compete on a more equal
footing when they join the workforce, particularly if they pursue hierarchically
structured corporate careers. Competitive sports can help players learn to exude
an illusion of confidence, even when afraid or insecure, and to understand that
making mistakes and learning from them is ‘part of the game.’ Children gain
confidence in their ability to take on unknown roles or tasks, and become more
comfortable with ‘learning by doing.’
Sport teaches teamwork skills such as loyalty to one’s teammates, deference to
a coach’s decisions, and the fact that teams are chosen based on relative skills,
not on the basis of popularity or personality. Participants learn that pressure,
deadlines and competition can be fun, and are more prepared when they
encounter these forces in a professional environment. All of these skill sets are
highly valued in the workplace, and by fostering these values in girls from a
young age, they are better prepared to interact and compete with their male
colleagues.21
Fostering opportunities for women’s participation in sports is not just about
advocating for the right of women to play. It entails identifying social and
economic barriers to women and girl’s participation in sports, and designing
programs which will be particularly relevant and meaningful to female
participants.22 Restrictions on girls’ and women’s leisure time include physical
risks related to participation which are specific to girls, such as danger
associated with sports events that keep girls after dark. Girls also experience
poverty-related barriers, such as lack of appropriate equipment, clothing or
sanitary items. These serve as unique barriers to girls’ participation in sporting
activities.
An example of the unique concerns associated with designing sports programs
for girls was demonstrated in a project set up by Play Soccer in Zambia. Many of
the extremely poor children in this community, particularly those living in orphan-
headed households, could not afford undergarments or clothing that wasn’t torn.
Many girls were afraid to join in the football games that were organized, for fear
that bending in funny ways or accidental collisions would cause them to expose
themselves and cause embarrassment. After first providing the children with
adequate clothing and equipment, girls readily joined in the game.23
In Iran, where women’s activities are highly controlled by male relatives and
society at large, girls were traditionally not allowed to participate in outdoor
21 See Women Sports Foundation website, available at:
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html
22 Sever, 2005.
23 Meier, 2005.
sports. A solution was found when an indoor space was located in which women
could play volleyball. The windows had to be covered to prohibit men from
watching the game. Even though during certain times of the year, the building
becomes too hot for the girls to play, this encouraging example demonstrates
how creative thinking can help to circumvent societal restrictions on women’s
physical activities.24
The examples in Zambia and Iran demonstrate the importance of taking into
consideration the particular social concerns and needs of girls and women when
creating sports and leisure opportunities.
Conclusion
With self-confidence, leadership and teamwork skills, girls are better equipped to
challenge societal norms which continue to oppress women and relegate them to
being second-class citizens. Though discrimination persists around the world,
and acts as a deterrent to girl’s participation in sport, the value of challenging
these norms has become increasingly recognized, by international actors,
government bodies, and communities themselves. United Nations Resolution
58/5, adopted in 2003, calls on governments to use sports to promote education,
health, development and peace. UNESCO and UNDP have both recognized the
value of sport as a tool of development, and have supported projects to use sport
as a means of empowerment and development. But the real testimony comes
from girls and women themselves. With each woman who excels in sport,
barriers are broken, and a new generation of girls is able to benefit from
participation in sports in a way that their mothers and grandmothers could not.
Taking inspiration from the determination and dedication of female athletes from
around the world, the next generation of girls can be inspired to participate in
sports. In the process, these girls are challenging the barriers which exist in their
societies, refuting gender stereotypes, and changing cultural norms, proving that
women can excel in all manner of activities if only given the opportunity.
Describing the key to her success, American tennis star Serena Williams said,
"Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours,
countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing
when it would come." Ranked 81st in the world, Williams recently defeated top-
ranked Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open.25
24 Ibid.
25 Mutara and Chaka, 2007.
References
The Age, “It is so fantastic! Girls beat the world to grab first gold,” March 26,
2007.
Blinde, E. Greendorfer, S., and Shanker, R., “Differential Media Coverage of
Men’s and Women’s Intercollegiate Basketball: Reflection of Gender Ideology,”
Journal of Sport and Social Issues 24 (2): 192-213 (2000).
Eastman, S. and Billings, A., “Gender Parity in the Olympics: Hyping Women
Athletes, Favoring Men Athletes,” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 23 (2): 140-
170 (1999).
Hannan, C. “Challenging the Gender Order,” Opening Keynote Speech at the
Fourth World Conference on Women and Sport, Kumamoto, Japan, 11-14 May
2006.
Higgs, C, K Weiller, and S Martin, “Gender Bias in the 1996 Olympic Games,”
Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. 27, No. 1, 52-64 (2003).
Meier, M., “Gender Equity, Sport and Development: Working Paper,” Swiss
Academy for Development, 2005.
Mutara, E. and Chaka, I. “FIND TITLE,” The New Times, March 8, 2007.
Sever, C., ‘Gender & Sport: Mainstreaming Gender in Sports Projects,” Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation, 2005.
Websites Consulted:
International Working Group on Women and Sport, available at: http://www.iwg-
gti.org/e/brighton/index.htm
Right to Play website, available at: http://www.righttoplay.com/site/PageServer?
pagename=tanzania_mamasalima_march2007
Women’s Sports Foundation: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-
bin/iowa/index.html
Biographical Note
Allison Huggins is a consultant currently working on gender and human rights
issues in Rwanda. She previously worked as a researcher with African Rights in
Kigali, Rwanda, and held program development positions with the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs and Search for Common Ground.
She holds a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics
and Political Science and BA in Geography from Dartmouth College.
Dr Shirley Kaye Randell AM, FACE, FAIM, FAICD is Senior Adviser,
Responsive and Accountable Local Governance/Gender for SNV Rwanda in the
East and Southern African region. Following a distinguished career in education
and in commonwealth, state and local governments in Australia, she has
provided advisory services in education, gender mainstreaming and public sector
reform for governments in the Pacific, Asia and Africa since 1997. Dr Randell is
Secretary General of the Rwanda Association of University Women and
Convener of the International Federation of University Women Projects
Development Committee.
