Gender Equality in Sports: Rio Olympics Performance and Government Efforts

GENDER EQUALITY IN SPORTS
• UNICEF entails that when women, men, girls, boys, everyone
enjoy the same rights, measures and means, possibilities and
securities, that is known as Gender Equality
• Canadian government have been trying its best to provide
the citizens the best possible chances to engage and
outshine in all sports, despite of their sexuality, age group
and capability
• People involved in sports should have access to a positive
environment without any discrimination
MOST POPULAR SPORTS
• The national sports of Canada are Hockey and lacrosse
• Ice hockey is the national sport for winter
and lacrosse is the national sport for summer
• Other popular sports include golf, swimming, soccer,
basketball, baseball and volleyball
• Since 1920 Canadian sports started to witness intensive
participation of women
• In 2002, the female hockey team of Canada succeeded in
winning the gold medal at the Winter Olympics, against USA
• The amount of importance and attention they got was
unprecedented in a traditionally male-oriented sport
• All the hockey players of the team were ranked among the
most celebrated female athletes in Canadian sports history
• In the 2016 Rio Olympics, the women’s Rugby team won a
bronze and the soccer team won their second straight bronze
• Out of the 22 medals Canada had won, 15 were won by
women athletes
EQUITY REPORT
• Women represent a wide variety of sports-related
occupations such as team leaders, media, academics,
coaches and athletes
• It has been recorded that women and girls participate in sport
and recreation less than men and boys as athletes, coaches,
and leaders in Canada, across all demographic categories
• There is even less evidence about the experiences of girls
with disabilities, indigenous girls or girls from any other
under-represented group (Tiessen and Carrier 2015)
• The voices and stories of all women and girls, particularly
those that do not currently participate in sport, need to be
included
• The members of the government organization Working Group
on Gender Equity in Sport reflect all facets of the Canadian
sport landscape
• National sports organizations must promote greater
GOVERNMENT EFFORTS
• In the National Budget 2018, the Canadian Government
presented an objective to achieve gender equity at all phases
of sport by the year 2035
• Government committed to invest $30 million over 3 years to
aid innovative ideas of research to encourage female
participation in sports (Lahey and De Villota 2013)
• The Minister of Science and Sport is the responsible authority
for promoting healthier Canadians through sport and
recreation, and for ensuring that the Canadian sport system
provides all Canadians the opportunity of more enthusiastic
participation in sport at all levels
• True equality can only be achieved if everyone gets access to
their rights without being affected by gender
• People must always acknowledge and appreciate the often
under-reported accomplishments of women in the history of
Canadian sport
• To accomplish all the much needed changes, innovative ideas
must be implemented in the areas of sport program design,
delivery, communication and media
REFERENCES
• Lahey, K.A. and De Villota, P., 2013. Economic crisis, gender
equality, and policy responses in Spain and Canada. Feminist
Economics, 19(3), pp.82-107.
• Tiessen, R. and Carrier, K., 2015. The erasure of “gender” in
Canadian foreign policy under the Harper Conservatives: the
significance of the discursive shift from “gender equality” to
“equality between women and men”. Canadian Foreign Policy
Journal, 21(2), pp.95-111.
RECOMMENDATIONS
RIO OLYMPICS PERFORMANCE
HISTORY OF WOMEN IN SPORTS