COMMENT: United Nations High Commissioner Report A/HRC/44/26
Updated: Nov 13, 2020
Tim Harper, Founder & Chief Executive at equitysport comments on the United Nations Report: Intersection of Race and Gender Discrimination in Sport (2020).
Tim Harper, Founder & Chief Executive at equitysport has made the following comment following the publication of the report:
“This report is a disappointing reflection of just how far sport has to go to realise its lofty aspirations to become a leader in equality, diversity and equal opportunity when it comes to female representation and gender discrimination.
Not for the first time, a United Nations report has highlighted the provisions and state obligations relating to non-discrimination on the basis of sex, race and gender in sport, and in particular those enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and in the Convention of the Rights of the Child - all of which guarantee the right to equal participation of girls and women in sport.
At equitysport, we know first hand through our project work, most recently through our #WeStandWithLama campaign that states, international governing bodies and sports federations are failing to address the underlying mechanics of prejudice, stereotyping and cultural ideologies in such a way that could help eliminate ongoing instances of gender discrimination in sport.
Whilst we welcome the reports findings and encourage all those involved in sport to read and act upon it, we remain concerned that without effective intervention, mediation, enforcement and access to redress for affected parties, nothing substantive will change on the ground.
As the world contends with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot, in our haste to ‘return to normal’, fail to challenge the broad and highly damaging cultural norms that sport is an exclusively masculine activity and that the equal participation of women is periphery to the development of sport in general.
equitysport will, of course, continue to work to advance equality, diversity and equal opportunity in and through sport around the world.”
The full UN report is available to read HERE.
Notes to Editors
For interviews or further comment from equitysport Chief Executive: Tim Harper, please call +44 (0) 7869516106 or contact the team via campaigns@equitysport.org