Two young women playing football

Sexism in Sport

Young white girl playing tennisNo-one should be excluded from the joy, fulfilment and lifelong benefits of sport. Women and girls deserve equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of sport, which is why our charity it determined too tackle sexism in sport at every level. This includes challenging explicit cases of discrimination and harassment as well as addressing the underlying barriers to equality.

We also see significant gender gaps when we look at the number of women participating in sport. In fact, the gender gap is bigger than it has ever been since reporting began. In team sport, 7% more men than women play, and there is a shocking 22% gap between girls and boys.

Young girl aged 8-12 with visual impairment being coached in footballWe also see clear gender gaps when we look at the number of women working in sport at every level. Women are a minority in coaching, especially at an elite level. A recent count of leaders in the top 20 sports by participation in England showed that across the roles of CEO, Chair and Performance Director, just 17% were women.

We work to ensure equality of opportunity by focussing on getting more women and girls participating in sport, more women working in sport at every level and by driving commercial investment in and media coverage of women’s sport. We also work to ensure that women and girls who do engage with sport receive equal respect to their male counterparts.

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We are continuously researching and gaining new insights into sport through the eyes of women and girls across a range of communities, ages, life stages and backgrounds.