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Empowering Women Through Sport

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-
General and Executive Director of UN Women, offers her perspective
on how sport can help advance gender equality around the world.
From the Olympic Review, January - February - March 2019, Number 110

As a South African, I continue to be

moved by the words of Nelson Mandela,
who said: “Sport has the power to
ONE WIN LEADS
change the world. It has the power to TO ANOTHER
inspire. It has the power to unite people - FACTS AND FIGURES -
in a way that little else does. It speaks
to youth in a language they understand. By the time they left the programme in Brazil,
Sport can create hope where once there participants had an improved understanding
of sexual health and rights, and increased
was only despair”. self confidence, as these figures highlight:
We have an opportunity to put these
ideals into action for the realization
of gender equality and women’s 89% of girls said they were a leader, compared
to 46% before the programme

empowerment—both in sport itself and

in the wider world, through sport. Sport
can be one of the great drivers of gender
93% of girls knew where to report violence

79%
equality, by teaching women and girls of girls knew how to prevent pregnancy,
the values of teamwork, self-reliance and compared to 25% before
resilience. It can provide girls with social
connections and a refuge from violence
in their homes and communities, and 77% of girls knew how to prevent sexually transmitted
infections, compared to 21% before

help them to understand their bodies and

build confidence and the ability to speak
up, particularly during adolescence, when
99% of girls believed that they would one day get a job

the pressure to conform to traditionally

“feminine” stereotypes leads many girls to Beneficiaries include girls like 19-year-
abandon sport entirely. old Dayane Santos who dropped out of
school after her daughter was born. After
One Win Leads to Another one year in the programme, Dayanne has
been able to finish high school, land a full-
The power of sport to change the lives time job and better negotiate time spent
of the most marginalized girls and young on childcare and housework with her
women can be seen in the success of partner. She also plays volleyball twice a
One Win Leads to Another (OWLA), a joint week in a community centre. Raphaela
partnership between UN Women and the Barbosa Lacerda, a 2016 graduate,
International Olympic Committee (IOC) was recently hired by the research
that is a legacy of the Olympic Games in and innovation team of an international
Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It combines sport cosmetics company. “Participating in the
practice with life-skills education for girls One Win Leads to Another programme
in the most vulnerable, and often violent, gave me maturity to face my problems,
communities. And thanks to the generous knowledge to express my ideas, and
support of the IOC and additional funding courage to fight for my dreams,” she said.
partners, it continues to grow and deliver “It was one of the things that most helped
real results (see graphic, opposite). me achieve what I want.”

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In October 2018, we launched a new athletic opportunities, build the status of

phase of the programme in Buenos Aires, women’s sport and reap the wider benefits
Argentina, in the context of the Youth to society.
Olympic Games (YOG). With the help of It’s not only women who benefit from a
the sports community we aim to continue more gender equal approach to sport and
expanding, so that One Win Leads to efforts to change outdated stereotypes of
Another becomes a legacy for all Olympic “locker room” masculinity. In November
Games and major sporting events going 2018, Fenerbahçe Sports Club, one of the
forward, and contributes to building an oldest and most popular multi-sports clubs
international movement of girls in sport. in Turkey, joined forces with HeForShe
in an ’Equal together’ initiative involving
Tackling wider inequalities its male football players, and seen by its
global fan base of 25 million. They aim to
At the same time, the world of sport achieve gender equality transformation
remains plagued by many of the same through sport, with women- and children-
gender inequalities that we see more friendly stadium practices, and a
broadly; issues such as unequal pay, zero-tolerance approach to all sorts of
gender-based violence, a lack of targeted discrimination against women and girls.
investment and negative stereotypes and
social norms. In many communities, it’s not just
discrimination, but gender-based violence
In workplaces around the world, women that keeps girls off the playing field. It’s
earn an average of 77 per cent of men’s only recently that instances of violence
salaries, for work of equal value. Similarly, and other forms of abuse have been more
in the sports arena, we see massive systematically brought to light within the
gaps in the prize money, sponsorships, sports community. All too frequently in the
facilities and equipment allocated to past, athletes, coaches and officials have
women athletes. International Federations turned a blind eye to sexual harassment
play a vital role in reversing this trend, and abuse. This has led to a culture
and I applaud FIFA for launching a of victim-blaming for those who come
global strategy for women’s football in forward and the reinforcement of a “boys
October 2018. It makes a strong public will be boys” culture that normalises, and
commitment to invest in and improve the therefore perpetuates, abuse.
women’s game—not only as the right
thing to do, but from the very practical In some instances, complicity and cover-
standpoint of tapping into its massive ups have led to decades of abuse that
revenue-generating potential. We need affected hundreds of women, as was the
to see more efforts like this resulting case with USA Gymnastics, where young
in salaries and prize money for female female athletes were sexually assaulted
athletes that are equal to what the men by gym owners, coaches and staff
get. Match scheduling is also a form of working for gymnastics programmes.
investment. Where women’s matches Other incidents have involved male
conflict with men’s, competition for abusers who are shielded from
viewership can create a vicious cycle of consequences to protect their athletic
ratings being used to justify lower prize status. And recently, there has been
money, lower pay for female athletes investigation into a series of cases of
and feed into the narrative of women’s physical, sexual and verbal abuse in
sport being of lesser value. It’s time to the Republic of Korea, following brave
turn this around and see how investing in testimony from a short track speed
women’s sport overall, from community skater and other female athletes. The
to professional levels, can improve girls’ National Olympic Committee President

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has commented on the revelation of the That is why it is essential overall to feature
systemic flaws and power imbalances women’s champions more prominently,
between coach and young athlete that to show girls, boys, women and men
have perpetuated such abuse; this is a alike what female athletes can achieve.
lesson for all. This requires concerted efforts to work
The sporting world must catch up with with the media to increase their coverage
the #MeToo era and take action to of women in sport, as well as boosting
end the culture of sexism, abuse of the number and visibility of female sport
power, harmful stereotypes—including reporters and analysts at major events,
toxic masculinities—and impunity that and to call out sexist portrayals and
perpetuates violence against women and double standards for women athletes’
girls within its ranks. I applaud the IOC for behaviour and attire. We also need more
taking significant steps to develop tools male athletes to step up with us, and
and guidelines to prevent and respond to model a culture that reflects equality,
harassment and abuse, many of which respect for diversity and non-violence,
I saw in practice when I was in Rio de within and beyond sport.
Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games. Not only are successful sportswomen
The IOC has also taken measures to showing girls that they can excel on the
safeguard athletes during the Buenos field; many are using their status to start
Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, important conversations about gender
and at the Olympic Winter Games in equality and to advocate for women’s
PyeongChang 2018, where a clear rights more widely. For example, tennis
structure was in place for participants players like Serena Williams and Victoria
to report any incident of harassment or Azarenka spoke up about losing their
abuse via the IOC Safeguarding Officer. rankings after they took time off to have
By communicating the expectations of children. The issue garnered major
its membership and the availability of its media attention and in December 2018
resources to end violence against women the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
and girls in sport, and exploring incentives announced that it was changing its special
to strengthen accountability for action, the ranking rule so that a player’s rank would
IOC can go even further to ensure that be frozen in the event of pregnancy, injury
abuse and harassment have no place in or illness.
the Olympic Movement. The WTA also said that it would not
penalize women for wearing leggings or
Female athletes as role compression shorts in lieu of a skirt at
their tournaments, something for which
models and advocates Williams was admonished after opting
for a compression outfit to manage blood
Stereotypes, discriminatory social norms
clots following childbirth. More visible
and a lack of representation remain some
female athletes means more platforms to
of the most pervasive barriers to gender
advocate for issues that affect a multitude
equality around the world. Even when
of women, both on and off the court. And
laws and policies are in place, deep-
more vocal female athletes bring change.
seated attitudes about gender roles can
hold back substantive change. We need In 2018, UN Women proudly welcomed
visible role models of female athletes one of the most celebrated women in
excelling on the field of play and reaching sport, Marta Vieira da Silva, as our
the Olympic podium, so that girls see, and Goodwill Ambassador for Gender Equality
believe in their own capabilities. and Sport. As a six-time FIFA Player of
the Year, widely regarded as the best

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female football (soccer) player of all time,

Marta is an inspiration to millions of girls
around the world. Her life story illustrates
many of the barriers that women still
face in sport, the sheer determination
that it takes to overcome these, and how
sport can change women’s and girls’
lives completely. Marta will support UN
Women’s efforts by working to inspire
women and girls to challenge stereotypes,
overcome barriers and follow their
ambitions.
Most importantly, let us support all of
those who are using sport as a force to
advance equality and opportunity; female
athletes like Marta who will ensure that the
next generation of girls grow up knowing
that they can excel at the highest levels;
male athletes who present a new model
of masculinity; and sports organisations
who are taking action to level the playing
field, so that sport not only creates
more opportunities for women and
girls on the field, but leads the way in
promoting gender equality and women’s
empowerment across all of society.

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