|  | Feature: “Women, Sport and Social Changes” | No.54 September 2008 |
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Equality and public policies for women in sport in Europe Kari Fasting & Celia Brackenridge |
This short article addresses the progress that has been made for women and girls in sport in Europe. It begins by discussing definitions of equality, discrimination and equity. It then discusses strategies for achieving equal opportunities. The article then outlines the work of the European Union in relation to equality in sport. It ends with an overview of the work of the European Women and Sport group since 1994. Equality and Equity in Sport What is meant by the terms equality, discrimination and equity in relation to sport? Equality means that women and men have the same rights, obligations and opportunities in all main fields of life, sport included: and that women and men share power, influence and responsibility in all sectors of the community, sport included. Discrimination is where someone is treated unfairly on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age. Equity in sport is about fairness. Equity is achieved by ”Changing the culture and structure of sport to ensure that it becomes equally accessible to everyone in society” (Sport England, 2000). To fulfil the fairness goals of gender equity in sport, it is necessary to have equality of access and to both recognise inequalities and take steps to address them. Equality is where persons are treated the same. Equity is where all persons are given fair access to social resources, while recognising that they may well have different needs and interests (Kidd and Donnelly, 2000) (see Figure 1). Figure 1 Assumptions about fairness Equality focuses on creating the same starting line for everyone; equity has the goal of providing everyone with the opportunity to reach the finish line. It is easy to recognise unequal opportunity where: women do not have the same access to decision-making roles in sport; and/or women do not have equal chances to get jobs in coaching and administration; and/or girls and women do not have the same access to participation in sport. One highly visible example of inequality is in the leadership of the International Olympic movement, where 1/11 (9%) of Executive Board Members are women, 16/110 (15%) of IOC Members are women and 3/25 (12%) of Honorary Members are women (Bennett, 2008). The IOC set targets of 10% women by 2000 and 20% by 2005 to improve the gender balance in the Olympic movement (Henry et al., 2004). Despite the setting of these targets - which have not been achieved, even today - some people feel that they were far too modest and that a much greater order of structural (quantitative) change in all roles and at all levels is required if the culture of Olympic sport is ever to become truly welcoming for both men and women. Strategies for achieving equal opportunities There are several well-known strategies for pursuing equal opportunities in sport: Equal treatment (popularised during the 1970s); Positive/affirmative action (during the common 1980s); Gender mainstreaming (more in evidence in the new millennium). Each of these approaches has its critics. Equal treatment, for example, does not necessarily lead to equal outcomes for women and men: some argue that it continues to treat men as the norm, against which women’s performance in sport and sport management, is measured. Positive/affirmative action is based on overt recognition of difference but some argue that it merely assists women to become more like men and gives them preferential treatment (positive discrimination): many people feel that this is unfair and, in some national legal contexts, it is actually illegal. ‘Gender mainstreaming’ in sport refers to the embedding of gender equality as an outcome of all sport regulations, policies and programs. This approach was adopted by the European Union (EU) in 1995 as a new approach to promote gender equality: the concept is still under debate, however. It focuses on systems and structures that produce deficiencies and disadvantages and seeks to integrate equality into these systems and structures (Rees, 2002). Gender mainstreaming also has its critics, many of whom ask if it is just “old wine in new bottles?” Tools used to deliver a gender mainstreaming approach include (Rees, 2002): Gender-disaggregated statistics about the gender distribution in sport organisations at all levels and for all roles; Gender impact assessments – to assess in advance the impact of any proposed policy on men and women respectively and to address any undesirable differences that may be anticipated; Gender balance in decision-making; Engendering budgets. We will focus on just on the third of these here - gender balance in decision-making. Gender balance is not achieved at 10, 20 or 40% representation. In Norway, the minimum representation of either sex on a public board of committee is 40%. The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been ratified by more than 150 states, almost all of which have undertaken to comply with its provisions. One ultimate goal of this Convention is to achieve gender balance in international organisations and bodies. By this is meant 50:50 distribution between the sexes – which would be a huge step for many sporting bodies. The transformation of an organisational culture lies at the very heart of gender mainstreaming and gender equity. In order to change the androcentric world of sport, Mercier and Werther (2001) suggest: developing coaching models that equally value female and male lives and that offer alternatives to both women and men; involving women in leadership in significant enough numbers that their voices are heard and that their experiences and perspective are reflected in decisions made in sport organisations; proposing that there be female and male co-chairs for workshops, conferences and committees; ensuring balanced visual evidence of women and men coaches in newsletters, media guides and on Web pages. Equality in sport and European Union (EU) Within the EU Directorate for General Education and Culture is The Sport Unit, which is responsible for the following main areas: cooperation within the Commission and with other institutions on sport-related issues; cooperation with national and international sports institutions, organisations and federations, bilateral meetings with sports institutions and organisations and international sports federations. In June 2000, the EU adopted the communication Towards a Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005), which identifies five areas of action where operational objectives are pursued in order to make progress towards gender equality: 1. Promotion of gender equality in economic life and particularly in employment-related matters: in sport, the rate of female employment at first glance calls for no particular comment and is even slightly higher. However, given that there are indications that employment in sport is somewhat insecure and that it involves higher rates of part-time work, this is not necessarily a positive point. As far as the salaries of professional sportsmen and sportswomen are concerned, it is clear that the principle of equal treatment frequently does not apply. 2. Promotion of equal participation and representation in political, economic and social decision-making bodies at all levels: the persistent under-representation of women in decision-making contexts in general is a considerable democratic deficit and certainly a serious issue in sport. 3. Full enjoyment of social rights: sport has a social function and, therefore, an important role to play in terms of preventing social exclusion, particularly in view of the numbers of women affected by poverty. 4. Promotion of gender equality in civil life: special attention must be paid to women suffering from multiple discriminations and to those who are victims of sexual violence or of sexual or moral harassment. In sport, this can be seen in doping practices, in punishing training programs and in training methods that exploit emotional factors. 5. Promotion of a change in roles and the removal of sex-related stereotypes: sport can play a major role in informal education and thereby help to channel new approaches. A resolution on Women and Sport was adopted by the European Parliament in June 2003. This resolution set out plans to develop a structure for tackling the question of ’Woman and Sport’ by: developing sport in schools and sport for leisure; ensuring equal rights in top-level sport; protecting the health of female athletes; securing greater participation by women in decision-making. In 2005, the Commission held Expert Meetings on ‘Equal Opportunities through and in Sport’, the purpose of which was to present and disseminate examples of good practice for participation in sport with regard to gender and to people with a disability. Recommendations to the EU from these meetings were: to increase the knowledge about the level of participation of both disabled persons and women in sports (statistics and polls); to provide more information on Member State initiatives and actions so as to facilitate dissemination of good practices; to provide better information about EU funding possibilities for integration (and equal opportunities) activities through sport in other ongoing programs, particularly in education; and to raise awareness of the added value of sport for people with disabilities in other EU policy areas, including youth and education. A White Paper on Sport, adopted by the European Commission on 11 July 2007, has the following Objectives: to provide a strategic orientation on the role of sport in the EU; to raise awareness of the needs and specificities of the sector; to improve knowledge about the application of EU law to sport; to enhance the visibility of sport in EU policies, programs and actions, since the potential of sport in social and economic terms has remained invisible for too long in the EU’s policies; and to encourage debate on specific problems, notably in the field of sport governance. The Commission wrote:
The framework of its Roadmap for equality between Women and Men 2006- 2010, the Commission will encourage the mainstreaming of gender issues into all its sports-related activities, with a specific focus on access to sport for immigrant women and women from ethnic minorities, women’s access to decision-making positions in sport and media coverage of women in sport.
In promoting Muslim girls’ and women’s participation in physical activity, the challenge is two-fold: the struggle for gender equality – the right of girls and women to full and equal life opportunities – and respecting cultural diversity and differences – the right of ethnic groups to sustain the cultural practices of gender differences and segregation of the sexes. European Women and Sport Group (EWS) The beginning of the Women and Sport movement in Europe occurred in the early 1990s, following a Council of Europe Seminar on Women and Leadership held in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1989. Between 1989 and 1993, a European Sports Conference Working Group on Women and Sport met, convened by Sweden and the UK. In 1994, a free-standing European Women and Sport Group (EWS) was formed, consisting of representatives and contact persons related to or interested in gender equality work of non-governmental or governmental sport organisations. The Objectives of the EWS are: to represent, defend and promote the interests of women in sport at a European level; to support and further develop the participation of girls and women in sport; to help increase the number of women in decision-making bodies and in the administration of sport at all levels; to educate women for decision-making in sport; to promote the involvement of female representatives at sport-political, scientific and sport-practical events; to strengthen cooperation and encourage the exchange of experience; to cultivate relations with international organisations and bodies on women and sport issues; and to encourage and increase scientific research projects.
Dates | EWS Host country | Conference theme | Venue
(until 1994) | Great Britain | 1st EWS Conference on Women, Sport and the Challenge of Change May 5 - 8, 1994: | Brighton
1994-1996 | Sweden | 2nd EWS Conference on Women, Sport and Health 22 - 25Aug, 1996 | Stockholm
1996-1998 | Greece | 3rd EWS Conference on Women, Sport and Partnership 25 – 28 Sep, 1998 | Athens
1998-2000 | Finland | 4th EWS Conference on Women, Sport and Culture 8 – 11 Jun, 2000 | Helsinki
2000-2002 | Germany | 5th EWS Conference on Women, Sport and Innovation 18 – 21 Apr, 2002 | Berlin
2002-2004 | France | 6th EWS Conference on Women, Sport and Democracy Apr 23 - 25, 2004 | Paris
2004 - 2006 | Austria | 7th EWS Conference on Good Governance in Sport 25 Mar, 2006 | Vienna
2006-2008 | Cyprus |  |
Table 1 gives an overview of the EWS location, chair and conference themes since its inception. Conclusions It would be wrong to suppose that the EWS, or Europe more generally, has necessarily found all the answers to issues of gender inequality in sport. Europe is a fast-expanding region, with many socio-political faultlines and divisions of its own to accommodate and adjust to. Just as elsewhere in the world, Europe’s political and economic stability is compromised by the global uncertainties of fuel shortages, poverty, environmental degradation and sectarian conflict. But, even though there is a lot left to do, we can be proud of the work done for girls’ and women’s sport in Europe. References Bennett, A. (2008). Women, Leadership and Resources. Paper presented to the conference “Promoting Equality in Sport – Towards Sydney 2010, Mikkeli, Finland 13-14 th June. European Commission (2007). White Paper on Sport. Brussels: European Commission. European Parliament (2003). Women and Sport – European Parliament Resolution. Brussels: European Parliament. European Union (2005). Towards a Community framework strategy on gender equality (2001-2005). Henry, I. (2004). Women, Leadership and the Olympic Movement: Final Report. Institute of Leisure Policy, Loughborough University/IOC. Kidd, B. and Donnelly, P. (2000). Human Rights in Sports, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 35(2), 131-148. Mercier, R. and Werthner, P. (2001) Changing the Andocentric World of Sport, Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching, 1(6), 1-6. Ministry of Children and Equality (2005). The Act Relating to Gender Equality. Retrieved 28.08.08 from www.regjeringen.no/en/doc/Laws/Acts/The-Act-relating-to-Gender-Equality-the-.html?id=454568 Rees, T. (2002) A New Strategy: Gender Mainstreaming. Paper presented at the 5th European women and Sport Conference in Berlin, April 18th-21st Hotel Crown Plaza, Berlin, Germany Sport England (2000) Making English sport Inclusive: equity guidelines for governing bodies. London: Sport England United Nations (1993). Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (General Assembly resolution 48/104). New York: United Nations. Contact Professor Kari Fasting Norwegian School of Sport Sciences Oslo, Norway e-mail: kari.fasting@nih.no Professor Celia Brackenridge Brunel University West London, UK e-mail: celia.brackenridge@brunel.ac.uk http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 Equality and public policies for women in sport in Europe Kari Fasting & Celia Brackenridge