The stigmas experienced by women in the world of sports were discussed extensively by the 10th panel at the Sport Integrity Week 2022 (SIW2022) yesterday.
The ‘Female Leadership in Sport’ session, moderated by Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) global chief operating officer Katie Simmonds, also highlighted barriers that are waiting to be broken down to achieve gender equality in the industry.
Yvonne Nolan, the general-counsel of World Rugby, explained how procedures implemented by her organisation have increased female participation to almost 40 per cent of all members.
Jessica Berman, the commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), meanwhile, said there is a need for diversity because “there is quality in all sectors of society.”
However, she also noted that in the NWSL, there is still a large vacuum in terms of women in decision-making positions. Berman also mentioned the need for action, rather than what she describes as “raging enthusiasm”.
Turning to a more political side, Emine Bozkurt, member of International Alert Europe and former member of the European Parliament, spoke about how she had always experienced difficulties throughout her life due to her origins and gender.
Yet, she has always managed to overcome the obstacles. She also talked about the need for political will to establish an agenda for equality.
Lorin Hamlin, from the sports company Under Armour, discussed working in a world made up mainly of men, and how it is to work with women’s sportswear, since women’s bioengineering is very different from men’s.
She added that over the years, there had been less development for women’s sportswear than for men’s equipment.
Hamlin, in her speech, called for men to be allies in this fight against inequality, giving the example of Under Armour, where only two women are in managerial positions.
Mary Davis, a professor at Yale University, talked about the relationship between fashion and sport, having taught a course called “Female Athletes and Fashion in Sports”.
Davis addressed how several women athletes, who appeared in the media, did so as though they were “on a mission” to show greater diversity, and influencing the masses.
Separately, SIGA had signed a letter of intent with United Nations (UN) Women yesterday.
SIGA chief executive officer Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, upon inking the agreement, said: “Until every woman has found her place in sport, we cannot stay silent, we cannot turn a blind eye.”
He highlighted that a small number of women occupied leading positions in the world’s biggest sports organisations.
“Why are we shackled by these barriers?”
Anastacia Divinskaya, the Brazil representative of UN Women, said the world body welcomes the partnership with SIGA for “revitalising commitment for gender equality in sport”.
UN Women project manager, Gabriela Geraldes Bastos, had also called for action, saying that data showed that 50 per cent of girls dropped out of sport upon hitting puberty, “due to the lack of support and self-confidence.”
