"Our mission is more crucial than ever," says Christelle Luisier Brodard, President of the Vaud State Council and Minister of Sports. "The Euro was a success for football, Switzerland, and the development of women's football, and the support programs have allowed us to give young girls more opportunities to play, and women more opportunities to lead (the game)."
The “Gender Equality and Sport 2025” Conference was held at the IMD in Lausanne this week. An annual gathering of the most disruptive minds in the field, it provided an opportunity to clarify the state of the art and, above all, to refine different narratives. The president of the Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport, Felicite Rwemarila, an IOC member who started out as a nurse in Rwanda before chairing several associations, including the Rwandan Football Federation's Women's Football Commission, agrees. “This conference is a space to amplify voices, share experiences, and engage in action. It's important to 'draw narratives' from what we share!”
A selection of ideas to assimilate to move forward on the subject
- “Transforming data into actions useful for sport” is the driving force behind Dr. Lombe Mwamba, CEO of the Global Observatory, through a knowledge hub, which also explores the global map of national and local policies, offering tools for sharing good practices and methodologies, “whether they concern sport or not, as long as they have an impact and can be useful to sport.”
- “Creating events that are concepts,” such as “She Runs,” a 4km race that brings together nearly 3000 young girls and offers workshops and cultural activities, inspiring speeches, and mentoring for 80 selected young girls. “The idea is to transform the inspiration to participate in an event into impact: coaching young people is useful, but coaching and training educators then allows you to reach thousands of children,” explains Hasnae El Hayoubi, of the International School Sport Federation.
- “Making stakeholders proactive,” says Dr. Decious Chopande of the African Union Sports Council. “The role of a government is to develop a framework and create a policy environment that promotes inclusion, but what is not working so far is that not all stakeholders are proactive enough to make everyone responsible and accountable for actions at all levels.”
- “Asking the right questions”: Nikki Dryden, a human rights and sports lawyer, wants to move away from the reflex of the “Diversity, Equality, Inclusion” (DEI) label, which can sometimes be the tree that hides the forest: “We have to get to the heart of the problem: who controls sport? Whose voices are excluded? What privileges are in place?
- “Getting out into the field. Really.” Hugh Torrence of the European Gay and Lesbian Federation considers it a challenge to “fully understand what’s happening on the ground, beyond what a country’s law is supposed to impose on discrimination based on sexual orientation.” As does Angela Mantilla of the Adidas Foundation, who points out that it’s on the ground “that we learn from our partners how they engage their communities.”
- “Identify the experts present on site,” according to Kisty Forsdike, and create, as is the case in Australia, a dual communication campaign with messages for the local community and another level of national, visual and impactful response, to involve all levels of stakeholders.
- “Ensuring that the ministries in charge can intervene on the themes of health, justice, security, etc.” Support in achieving objectives and implementing practical solutions signed by UNESCO, as detailed by Victoire Aimé, who has also launched a study to which everyone can contribute, around the program The Fit for Life Global Alliance.
- “Increasing the number of female coaches,” by rugby player Toluiva Keneti, from the Lakapi Samoa program, all accompanied by gender-based coaching techniques, focus groups, observation and co-coaching/mentoring.
- “Identifying the first signs, sharing responsibilities…”: Mathilde Grenet, founder of En Garde, has made solving the problem of sexual assault in sport the fight of her life.
- “Overcoming Cultural Resistance Within Federations,” by Jules McGreever, Equal Careers. ASOIF conducted a study among executives of sports institutions in 69 countries, at various levels of governance. The result of implementing quotas? 67% of women saw their leadership positions increase, compared to only 41% without quotas.
- “Always contextualize women's experiences”: Dr. Nana Adom Aboagye laments a lack of intersectionality and wants to shed light on who is at the table when decisions are made. Ethnicity, tribalism, sexual orientation (“being queer is forbidden in many African countries, it should be remembered…”) are all necessary criteria to put storytelling and initial engagement in the right place.
- “Using athletes with extraordinary influence,” such as Bernadette Zeka Eulu, of the Racheal Kunfananji Legacy Foundation, named after the Zambian player who was the most expensive football transfer in the history of women’s football…
- “Realizing that there is always a place to make a difference, no matter the constraints,” by Louisiana State University swimmer Maggie McNeil.
- “Don’t focus solely on menstrual cycles”: Katrine Okholm Kryger of UEFA has come to change a preconceived idea by proposing to track hormones much better than menstruation to have a very good general indicator of health above all. “Injuries, cruciate ligament tears and menstruation are not the only ways to assess the mental and physical health of female football players…” And to recall that, during the Euro in Switzerland, messages were posted in the toilets normalizing menstruation to relieve the inhibitions of the young girls present at the stadium. It remains, as Madeleine Pape reminded us, to also talk about women after menopause…
- “Keep fighting, even though Paris 2024 has set the bar quite high in terms of gender equality”: Primrose Mhunduru points out that there has been a 30% increase in female representation on executive committees. And that 96% of NOCs had a female flag bearer!
- “Accepting that you can’t satisfy everyone!”: Andre Oliveira, from the International Hockey Federation, explains how “having an Egyptian referee a men’s hockey match wasn’t done at all by arriving with a specifically feminine or activist agenda, but above all a sporting one, and a lot of pedagogy…”
Finally, the prize for free speech was awarded, unofficially, to the incredible Afghan judoka Friba Rezayee, now a refugee in Canada, from the association Women Leaders of TomorrowBetween anecdotes about her competition, she who had “the chance to be on television at the same time as the film Mulan”, and the mobilization of young girls at the airport upon her return from the Games, she embodies a strong message: “Afghan women do not have the opportunity to realize their potential because we have always been limited. The federations are under the control of the Taliban with fatwa and punishment if we practice a sport. We are not recognized by the International Federation because we would have to be recognized by our own federation… which does not recognize us. We must fight on the legal ground, so we ask them to recognize us, unconditionally.”
