Achieving gender equality in sports requires tackling structural and socio-cultural issues. Policies are needed to close the pay gap and ensure equal access to sports while promoting women’s representation in coaching, leadership, and decision-making bodies. In addition, it is important to implement and enforce anti-violence and robust safeguarding policies that prioritize survivor-focused, trauma-informed responses.

The first step is to encourage women and girls to participate in sport by ensuring they have the same opportunities as men. This can be done through providing them with adequate training facilities, equipment, and support from coaches. Moreover, it is essential to challenge gender norms around femininity by empowering women athletes to lead their own lives and prioritize their careers over household responsibilities.

Another crucial step is to promote a positive image of women in sports media, which is still overwhelmingly male-dominated. For example, women only receive 4% of all sports coverage and are often depicted as ‘soft’, ‘passive’ and ‘weaker’ than men while being more focused on their physical appearance or personal life. This needs to change, as it prevents women from becoming role models and may discourage young girls from choosing a career in sports.

Achieving gender equality in sport also requires a clear organisational framework from all sporting governing bodies to pursue the goal of parity in an organised, targeted and time-bound way. This should include the establishment of mechanisms for reporting discrimination, and an emphasis on equality as a core value of all sporting events and sports organizations.