Misogyny in Sport — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Civil Rights
Alexandra Mary Davies-Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Now that he has intervened on my Adjournment debate, I feel like I am a proper MP. I completely echo his calls and hope to see his grandchildren among our sports stars of the future Women make up only 18% of qualified coaches and only 9% of senior coaches. In almost half of publicly funded national governing bodies, less than a quarter of their board are women, and, in total, women make up only around 30% of board members. While it is easy to get lost in the statistics, these numbers really do matter, particularly in traditionally male-dominated sports such as wrestling. The disturbing reality and lived experience for many female wrestlers is, more often than not, entrenched in misogyny. I have heard horrific tales from female wrestlers who were faced with threats of rape or sexual assault, all in the name of "friendly banter". I have also heard from women as young as 13 or 14 who, at the start of their careers, were the targets of vile behaviours that saw male wrestlers competing to be the one to take their virginity The #MeToo movement shone a light on the inherent misogyny that persists across so many industries, but less well known is the Speaking Out movement, which has left the wrestling industry tainted with its harrowing stories of emotional and sexual abuse. These behaviours are disgraceful, yet they continue to persist, and ultimately, the sports industry urgently needs more regulation The UK Government have a responsibility to engage proactively with governing bodies to support women and to bring an end this abuse. I would be interested to know how many meetings the Minister has had with governing bodies to discuss misogyny in sport. What tests has his Department put in place to hold these institutions to account, particularly when there is no governing body to hold to account, as with wrestling? Who should these young women turn to? We saw this problem with British Gymnastics. It is welcome that UK Sport and Sport England are commissioning the Whyte review into British Gymnastics, but the UK Government must take the lead Women also often face barriers to accessing the proper equipment they need to participate in sports. Think about large-scale running events: most of these events provide runners with kit, which are almost always "unisex"—which of course, in reality, is not true. Yet it is not all doom and gloom; there is hope. There are many wonderful examples in my own constituency of groups that are doing an excellent job of encouraging women and girls’ participation in sport. The Rhondda ladies hockey club, supported by Hockey Wales, has been doing amazing work to encourage women, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community, to participate in sport. I pay tribute to their fantastic work, and especially the work of my own former head of sixth form at Tonyrefail School, Kay Tyler, the club secretary. I also would love to highlight the fantastic work of the Pontyclun Falcons ladies rugby team in my community, and their team manager, Michelle Fitzpatrick, in encouraging and supporting women to play rugby Yet issues around misogyny in sport are apparent across every age group. University teams across the UK have repeatedly hit the headlines, most commonly for issues where men’s sports teams have been penalised for horrendously sexist, homophobic or racist themed nights out. And still, as in many industries around the country, women are paid less than their male counterparts for exactly the same work There are also massive differences in the funding opportunities. We saw that just recently: during the coronavirus crisis, the suspension of top-level football was initially applied equally to both the men’s and women’s competitions, but when games were allowed to start up again, the Football Association cancelled the women’s super league and championship matches. In contrast, the men’s premier league and championship games were able to resume Yet what is perhaps most shocking of all lies in public attitudes towards sport. Insure4Sport recently found that an incredible 40% of their participants do not believe that women’s and men’s sport should get equal TV coverage. Some of the responses on this reasoning were, frankly, disgraceful, ranging from, "I think women lack enthusiasm," to, "I find them slow, weak and boring," and, my personal favourite, "I personally think it’s not natural for a woman to play these types of sports." Call me old-fashioned, but in 2020, I am flabbergasted that women’s sport is seen as "less than" in every sense The coronavirus pandemic has, of course, added to the strain that sports clubs across the country are facing. Clubs at all levels are feeling the severe financial pinch and there is concern already that the women’s game and their funding will suffer most in the long term. Many women’s elite teams are tied to or are subsidiaries of their professional men’s clubs. When the men’s clubs hit hard financial times, they often cut ties with the women’s team to save money. For example, when the men’s club withdrew funding in 2017, the Notts County women’s club collapsed, leaving their players jobless and, in some cases, homeless just two days before the season was due to start The Minister must ensure that the UK Government act to support women’s sport through the coronavirus crisis and to guarantee that future generations have the opportunity to develop a love for sport, which will pay dividends throughout their lives. Nevertheless, as bleak as this sounds, there is hope. Generations of children are now growing up with female sport heroes to look up to and we must not lose this momentum.