It's time for sport to stop treating women as second-class citizens
Among a myriad of problems affecting women in sport, the vast majority of football boots are designed with men’s feet in mind
There are some things I write which I know will lead to a social media onslaught. This is probably one of them. We have much more work to do in this country to achieve real equality for women than most of us realise.
And of all those areas, the one which I did not expect to bring this home to me quite so resoundingly was sport. Those women taking part, whether as competitors, coaches or officials, do not have the financial support, equipment and medical resources available to them as their male counterparts have.
That fact we have accepted an almost second-class approach for too long speaks to me of a continuing male dominance in frankly too much of society. I say that not to dismiss the progress which has been made, but in recognition of the reality that sport has never been equal, simply because of the historic delineation – whether that’s women’s football or men’s, or categories within para sports.
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An inspiration
Yes, there are sports where women and men compete on equal terms but not the majority and the difference in support is stark.
Women’s rugby is currently the fastest growing sport in the country. The Red Roses and the Lionesses have inspired children and adults alike this year, while the most recent women’s internationals at Murrayfield have raised both awareness and standards.
Spikes in participation following successes are expected and welcome of course, but the challenge is both to sustain that interest once the immediate reaction has passed, and harness it to offer the same opportunities to young girls as boys.
At Westminster’s Women and Equalities Select Committee, we heard evidence about the challenges and what needs to be done. Equipment, sportswear, gym equipment, training and food regimes in elite sport have all, for a long time, been designed primarily, in some cases exclusively, with men in mind.
Football boots remain a surprising and disappointing example where apparently the vast majority are designed and manufactured with men’s feet as their model.
School sports
But the problems need to be addressed long before the elite stage. The University of Bristol this year published research on school PE uniforms and their impact on teenage girls. In England they found that only 51 per cent of girls always take part in PE when they have their period. And 48 per cent said they would not feel comfortable talking to their teacher about their period.
There has been a dearth of research over the years – now finally being addressed – into how women’s menstrual cycles affect performance, and perhaps even more worryingly, how to train safely during pregnancy.
Inequalities outside of sports also need to be addressed. In Scotland, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee found a number of respondents to its call for evidence shared direct experiences of being harassed whilst exercising in public.
Women need to feel safe going to train at night. Both internal training spaces and open-air running routes need to be made safer through better design and planning. Hidden accesses, badly lit spaces and overgrown paths are still dangerous for women at all times.
I know planners are now taking this into account. Yet, you have to wonder why any of this has taken so long to address.
Christine Jardine is Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West
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