Womens Sport Foundation

The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1984, is the UK's leading organisation dedicated to improving and promoting opportunities for women and girls in sport and physical activity.

Friday April 6^th 2007 heralds the arrival of a key piece of legislation with the potential to change the face of women’s sport for generations to come.

The long-awaited Gender Equality Duty (GED) comes into law tomorrow, and places a statutory obligation on all public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between men and women and eliminate discrimination and harassment.

 Sue Tibballs, Chief Executive of the Women’s Sports Foundation, said:

“This is an exciting day. Our latest report suggests that women and girls are still consistently under-represented at all levels of sport, and their levels of participation, compared to that of men and boys,are particularly concerning. The GED provides a framework for authorities to better understand the barriers to women’s participation and to now provide facilities and activities that meet their needs.”

Traditionally, discrimination law has relied on individuals to prove that discrimination has occurred. The GED requires a change of mind-set – the emphasis is now on pro-active promotion of opportunities.

 There is no definitive list of which bodies are subject to the duty. Within sport, organisations like: UK Sport, the Olympic Delivery Authority, the Sports Councils and local authorities will all have to comply with the duty. Other organisations not specifically named in the legislation, such as sport’s governing bodies, are advised to seek legal advice regarding their status. WSF believes that the spirit of the law should be adopted and asks any sporting organisation to acknowledge the importance of the legislation to women’s sporting success and comply with the duty.

 Sue continued:

“This will be a true test for sport providers. While it’s hard to know the exact impact of the GED, we are hopeful that public bodies will see this as an example to follow and not a duty to evade. Local authorities will have to monitor who is using their sports facilities, and put in place measures to better promote them to under-represented groups.  We hope that traditional problems such as a lack of female changing facilities and historic block booking of pitches for men’s clubs will be addressed through the duty, resulting in a new generation of healthy, active women and girls.”

 To get in touch with the WSF’s Press Office, please contact Angelo Evangelou via telephone on 020 7273 1923, or email media@wsf.org.uk . Out of office hours call 07917 559 949.

To obtain a further comment from either Sue Tibballs (Chief Executive) or Cassie Smith (National Development Manager – Policy, Research and Information), please contact the WSF’s Press Office at the details above.