Traditionally, men have been dominating sport, in terms of both participation and governance. Looking back to the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896, women were excluded from participation. Women were only allowed to participate after four years. Although women’s presence and involvement in sports activities have gradually evolved and improved, girls and women across the world still get fewer opportunities and less investment, training, and corporate attention. The importance of sport in daily life cannot be ignored as it contributes significantly to fitness, health, economy, and self-development. It also teaches values and skills to individuals, including discipline, teamwork, respect, and perseverance. However, it is an unfortunate fact that the sports world is still plagued by inequalities between women and men. A gender-friendly climate should become a standard feature of sports institutions.
Equality between women and men is a fundamental principle of the European Union. The European Commission expressed its commitment, in both the Women’s Charter and the Strategy for Equality between Women and Men, to address and eliminate the gender gap, especially in decision-making. Following the EU Conference on Gender Equality in Sport in 2013, the proposal for Strategic Actions on Gender Equality in Sport 2014-2020 was approved. The European Commission recognizes that there is still a lot to do. Due to this, the actions and recommendations contained in the proposal encourage sports governing bodies and non-governmental organizations to develop and implement strategies for action on gender equality in sports, supported by coherent and concrete measures at the EU level. The increasing number of women participating in sports helps widen perspectives, bring in new ideas, and reach new audiences.
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The European Council's conclusions on Gender Equality in Sports encourage sports organizations to increase gender balance on executive boards and committees and in management and coaching. However, gender inequality in sports still exists in the European Union. Gender inequality exists in the decision-making bodies, coaches, gender-based violence, and media coverage.
Decision-making
Except for women-only sports organizations, when it comes to decision-making positions, women form a minority in all sports, at all levels, and in all countries. Data from the report on women in power and decision-making, prepared by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) shows that on average, only 14% of all top decision-making positions in EU Member States’ sports federations were occupied by women. The percentage of women occupation in decision-making positions ranges from 3% in Poland to 43% in Sweden. With the notable exception of Sweden, the majority of countries display a share of less than 20%. The percentage of women in decision-making positions varies across Europe and among different sports. 15% of the executives in German sports federations were women. Another study showed how 64% of the football federations did not have a single woman on their boards. Whereas three sports federations, two in gymnastics and one in aquatics had around 50% women. Women are also underrepresented in governmental sports bodies as 28% of the national sports directors in the EU Member States are women.
A 2018 study looking into 21 European NSF boards, shows that women remain markedly underrepresented. Women noticeably face many barriers and these barriers in taking on decision-making and management positions can partly be explained by the different values, attitudes, and behaviors of women and men. However, such factors correlate with equal rights, gender roles, gender regimes, and the gender order in society and these can also be considered as barriers in cultural terms. In addition, co-option processes in sports have been said to lead to ‘homologous reproduction’, meaning that leaders elect or appoint new leaders who are similar to themselves or look like themselves. Furthermore, women and men are recruited to different types of positions, which emphasizes gender segregation. This often leads women into positions with the lowest prestige. The primary reason for the inequality in decision-making positions in sports is the inevitable fact that sports organizations are dominated by a male culture. This dominance tends to either exclude or ignore large groups of women. Sports organizations are sensitive to the personal responsibilities that decision-makers hold, for example, family responsibilities. Having a decision-making position implies the need for investment of time and energy, along with a flexible home and work life. Election committees generally consisted of men and they often use subjective evaluative criteria, which men usually appear to be more qualified compared to women.
Sports governing bodies should focus on gender equality in sports. By doing so, they could take advantage of the leadership skills, and experience that women have and reflect their needs. Having women in powerful decision-making positions could mean that they play a big role in setting examples for other women. EU Member States should promote training programs to raise awareness of gender inequality. This can increase the commitment to gender mainstreaming for members who are in leading and decision-making positions. The European Commission proposed that education and training for both women and men in decision-making bodies should be promoted. Eventually, hoping to reach the objective of 40% of women on executive boards, and committees of professional sports administrations.
Women as coaches
Based on figures in 7 EU Member States, it is estimated that only 20-30% of all sports coaches in Europe are women. However, these figures seemed to be lower for the number of female coaches with qualifications for coaching. Coaching is still recognized as a gendered role, dominated by men. Looking at one of the EU Member States, the United Kingdom, 25% of more than one million coaches and 17% of the qualified coaches are women. Another example would be in Germany, about 10% of the 500 national coaches, and in elite and professional sports, 13% of the coaches are women. These figures reflect the gender distribution in different sports. Only in women-dominated sports, such as gymnastics and figure skating, do women outnumber men as coaches. These female coaches often work with women or children who compete only at the regional or local level. Studies confirm that at the elite level, the number of female coaches is very low, and they tend to be assigned roles such as caretakers or assistants to male coaches.
According to several studies, female coaches face many barriers rather than support. There are barriers at the individual level, such as low confidence, low self-efficacy, and low competence. It has been proved that in several EU Member States, more formal education programs for coaches were introduced to universities and training institutes. This succeeded in attracting more women, but the problem is that there are no specific post-program opportunities to obtain the qualifications. Furthermore, looking into the curriculum of the training programs, gender-specific topics, and gender issues are hardly recognized or mentioned. Currently, no structure in the European Union requires educational providers of coach education and qualifications in sports to incorporate gender-related components. Female coaches have experienced social and cultural barriers by dominant gender stereotypes in the sports world and are aware that strategies to alter these ideologies are limited.
The football associations throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have developed a program named “Mums on the Ball.” This program’s objective is to get mothers into coaching sessions that their children are participating in. Moreover, in the Netherlands, Muslim women were educated to become swimming instructors. Most of them even got jobs or part-time jobs at their local swimming pools. This significantly increased the number of girls learning to swim, which shows the effectiveness of having more female coaches.
Women should have equal opportunities to achieve a role as a coach in any sporting activity of their choice. In a majority of EU Member States, coaching in sports is mostly delivered by volunteers, of which legislation has little jurisdiction. This means the difficulty in the development of female coaches is enforced by law. There seems to be a necessity in action for more qualified elite-level female coaches. Sports organizations must recruit women with elite backgrounds in sports. This is because female athletes have experience that can emphasize their knowledge in sport and existing stereotypes can be eliminated. The Union must implement ethical guidelines to ensure the environment in coaching is free from gender discrimination.
Gender-based violence
Gender-based violence is present in sports and it cannot be denied. In nine European countries, data for gender and sexual harassment in sports varies between 14% and 73%. As the level of sport rises from the recreational to the elite level, it has been proven that the experience of sexual harassment increases. The most frequent form of sexual harassment in sports is verbal sexual harassment. In the case of sexual abuse in sports, meaning forced sexual activity that athletes did not want, prevalence data varies between 2% and 22%. These types of sexual abuse often occur between a young female athlete and an older powerful coach. A study from the UK found that more females than males reported sexual harassment, but more males than females reported sexual abuse. 12% of young people who play sports in the Netherlands have stated that they experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual attention. It was revealed that 4% of minors complained of either being sexually assaulted or raped. The majority of the incidents were known to have occurred at football clubs, swimming and gymnastic clubs. In EU Member States, the concept of ‘gender-based violence’ is not largely used in the context of sport. There is a lack of leadership regarding this issue as there is no organization responsible for it.
The Treaty of Lisbon took action in December 2009, which brought sport within the remit of the EU. The Treaty does state that the EU is determined to protect the integrity of male and female athletes. However, there is no legal framework that addresses gender-based violence in sports. This shows the challenges for a fair sports environment across the Member States. The issue of gender-based violence in sports was recognized by the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This ran from January to June in the year 2014. This was mainly for a better understanding of gender-based violence in sports. Also, in May 2014, the Council of the European Union issued a document entitled Conclusions on gender equality in sport. Article 11 states the Union’s acknowledgment that violence and sexual harassment can occur in sports. Moreover, Article 24 urges “Member States to prevent gender-based violence in sport, to protect victims, and to exchange ideas on best practice in preventing and managing cases of gender-based violence ins pro.” In addition, the European Parliament adopted the Resolution on Women and Sport in 2003. Article 40 of the Resolution advises “Member States and sports federations to adopt measures for the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment and abuse in sport.” Later, in 2014, at the meeting of the European Commission’s Group of Experts on Gender Equality in Sport, a strategy document named Proposal for Strategic Actions on Gender Equality in Sport was approved. This document covers the period from 2014 to 2020 and mainly focuses on fighting gender-based violence in and through sports.
Governmental actions in Belgium, Cyprus, France, and Italy have developed initiatives to raise awareness of gender-based violence in sports. France, an EU Member State, proposed an action plan against harassment and sexual violence in sports. This action plan includes a set of actions:
- A Charter for the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Sport, published jointly with an action plan
- An Information and Communication Campaign beginning with the publication of the plan
- The organization of a pilot awareness-raising activity within regional sports institutes, sports federations, regional leagues, and clubs
- Training programs for staff (e.g. coaches)
Sports governing bodies and organizations in all EU Member States should adopt specific strategies for preventing gender-based violence in sports. This should be carried out by a policy or action that specifically assists the prevention of the issue. The European Commission should appoint experts who can guide to lead the fight, especially in Member States that have no policy or legislation.
Media coverage
In sports, women are often portrayed differently compared to male athletes. Even though there is an increasing number of female participation in sports, the media coverage emphasizes the differences between women and men in sports. Gender stereotyping in media of women and men athletes is documented and women are said to be sexualized. Female athletes are often said to be depicted in a way that ignores their achievements. This is due to the way these athletes are portrayed with emphasis on their sexual attraction rather than their strength or skills in sports. In 1995, the European Broadcasting Union created a Charter for Equal Opportunities for Women in Broadcasting. The objective of this was to “demonstrate the commitment of European Public Service Media to the rights of women working in the media, and the rights of women to a fair media portrayal.”
A study conducted in Denmark, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden suggests that except for a few events, the amount of media coverage regarding sports has not changed since the 1970s. This lack of media coverage especially on women in sports is mainly because of the low number of women experts present in media-related jobs. For women journalists, the working environment in sports media is undesirable and difficult, and having to overcome barriers and having to face opposition from male journalists and athletes is inevitable. At the 2012 London Olympics, women photographers and journalists only took up 15%. A 2018 UK survey showed that the main reason why people do not watch women’s sports is because it lacks TV coverage. The importance of media attention is significant for players and athletes as it is what boosts investment, and their status. It has been said that every EU country has a couple of female athletes able to spur large audiences. However, if sports organizations do not implement a strategy, the public’s interest will die down.
The UK Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation (2011) recognized that women make up the majority of consumer purchasing decisions. This implies that if the female population in engagement is increased, it would benefit investors and many other brands. Sports Organizations should communicate and work with media bodies to build interest in women’s sports. In France, the Minister of Women’s Rights proposed a framework law on equality between women and men. This suggests on extending the “List of events of major importance for society” to cover more women’s sports events. Member States should review this list and include more female sporting events. To achieve a balance in gender in the sports media, the employment of women needs to be increased in the sports department of media bodies. Not only should media organizations employ more women journalists, but they should also guide along with a policy for discussion.
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