Tag: human rights

feminism · fitness

International Women’s Day – So Much Less Than We Hoped For

Diane Harper1 Comment
Image taken from a friend’s Facebook page.

International Women’s Day fell on the same day as many places switched to daylight saving time this year. It was coincidence, but felt particularly cruel at a time when women’s rights are being rolled back in many places, and violent conflict is putting increasing numbers of women and girls at risk.

Anne Cherkowski, Natalie Spooner, and Vanessa Upson traded their 24s for 23s in recognition of the 23-hour International Women’s Day. And the PEHL ran a $23 fundraiser to support helping girls get into and stay in hockey.

L to R: Vanessa Upson of the Minnesota Frost, Anne Cherkowsky of the New York Sirens, and Natalie Spooner of the Toronto Sceptres, in their special International Women’s Day jerseys. Photo courtesy of @thepwhlofficial.

Others had a slightly different take. One friend, who had been at the Beijing International Women’s Conference in 1995, reflected on how hopeful things had been then, and now here we are.

Another friend, who had also been at Beijing, didn’t even mention it. She was too busy being worried about friends who might be caught up in the war in the Middle East, where at least 165 Iranian school girls were killed in an attack on their school. That story has barely caused a ripple in Canada. Compare that with the massive international outcry over the Chibok school girls in 2014.

On top of the open conflicts, we have smaller attacks on women’s rights: whether it’s making proof of identity more difficult, thus locking women out of the right to vote, women being bullied for supposedly using the “wrong” washroom, the impact of return to office policies because women who carry a large burden of child care and other invisible labour must suddenly scramble to find daycare and elder care options that allow them to manage commutes on top of their paid workday.

It’s all exhausting.

athletes · Olympics · sexism · stereotypes

Funding for Women’s Sports Around the World

Diane HarperLeave a comment

A friend posted this article about the Indian Women’s Cricket team winning the Women’s World Cup.

This AP photo of the women celebrating their World Cup win is from the India Today article linked above.

“Three years before this moment, back in October 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a bold and unprecedented move during its 15th Apex Council meeting. They unanimously passed a resolution to introduce pay parity between India’s men’s and women’s cricketers. For the first time, the women who wore the blue jersey would receive the same match fees as their male counterparts.”

“This triumph was not accidental. It was the result of a carefully constructed ecosystem designed to elevate women’s cricket from the fringes to the forefront. The BCCI’s [Board of Control for Cricket in India] equal pay decision was only one piece of a larger puzzle: improved facilities, better coaching structures, and the advent of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which gave Indian players consistent exposure to world-class competition. The WPL, in particular, provided an arena for rising stars to play alongside and against international icons, sharpening their skills and instilling the poise needed for high-pressure moments like a World Cup final.”

The article got me thinking about other low and middle income countries with powerhouse sports teams. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but discovered that Kenya has a national strategy and several funds (public and private sector) to support women athletes. Jamaica announced a fund to support women’s soccer earlier this year, just two years after the national team had to crowd-fund its way to the Women’s World Cup.

Most seem to rely on non-governmental funding, which is more about empowering women and girls rather than producing elite athletes. That is arguably a far more important goal. But as interest in women’s sport continues to rise around the world, I look forward to seeing other countries and corporate sponsors putting resources into equal funding for women’s sport.

I’m already a fan of the Olympics, where there are serious efforts to ensure gender parity in the competitions and on individual teams. Future games promise to be even more interesting, as the traditional dominance of countries that have (relatively) strong support for female athletes is tested.

fitness

Nowruz Mubarak

Diane Harper

Happy New Year, if you happen to be of Persian, Afghan or (many parts of) central Asian origin. To celebrate, here are some images of women athletes from Afghanistan, who have lost the ability to compete since the return of the Taliban to power, but not their desire. I found the protest photos of them in burqas, with their gear, to be very moving. Some have escaped Afghanistan and are continuing their athletic careers. Nowruz Mubarak to all of them: here’s hoping the next year will be better for all women who are unable to participate in sport.

Kimia Yousofi of Afghanistan is now living in Australia. Yousofi, shown running in a black track suit and hijab, was flag bearer for Afghanistan at the Tokyo Olympics.
Image: Christian Petersen/Getty Images