The IWG is pleased to announce that the International Boxing Association has become the newest signatory of the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport. This is just the most recent feather in the cap of women's boxing, which will see its athletes compete for the first time in the Olympic Games in London this year.

By signing the declaration, AIBA has committed itself to upholding and supporting the ten priniciples set forth by the declaraction:

1. Equity and Equality in Society and Sport
2. Facilities
3. School and Junior Sport
4. Developing Participation
5. High Performance Sport
6. Leadership in Sport
7. Education, Training and Development
8. Sport Information and Research
9. Resources
10. Domestic and International Cooperation

AIBA also sets a powerful example to its member bodies and other international sports bodies who have yet to sign the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport.

Heartfelt appreciation goes out to the association to both empowering women and advancing the sport of boxing.

An article on the event can be found here.

Leila Gharavi, IWG Coordinator, March - August 2012

I came to Helsinki in 1999 to do my Master’s thesis in Telecommunications with Nokia Research Center. And that is where I stayed and continued as a Research Engineer for about ten years until March 2009. Then, I quit my job at Nokia, my career and my Doctorate studies in Telecommunications. I needed a change.

To wrap things up, I believe in getting rid of the box(s) altogether instead of thinking outside of the box.

 As reported in the coverage of the event by FISU: "Mrs Matilla was pleased with the country’s decision to sign the declaration, which she calls 'a first step to committing the organization to the principles of the Brighton Declaration'. She added 'I hope this gives a background for [Chinese Taipei] to take action after this because it is important to share these values, but it is even more important to implement them.'"

The IWG is honored to have the federation amongst the ever growing number of Brighton Declaration signatories and looks forward to learning about how CTUSF chooses to implement the principles of the declaration and to reporting on its successes to the global sport movement. 

The IWG was likewise pleased to have the opportunity to address the members of FISU's Gender Equality Committee (GEC) at its meeting which was held during the forum.

For more coverage of the event:

 2012 FISU Forum: Overview of day 3 (FISU News)

2012 FISU Forum: Gender Equality Committee meeting

Letters of support were addressed to both Mr. Joseph S. Blatter, President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

Following the decision to lift the ban, the IWG is pleased to commend FIFA and IFAB for its thoughtful consideration of the issue and for the organizations' continued commitment to advancing women’s football and upholding the principles of human dignity, non-discrimination and the ideals of the Olympic Movement.

The FEI member Federations voted unanimously at the 2011 FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in support of the FEI becoming a signatory of the Brighton Declaration.

The document was signed during the FEI Executive Board’s March meeting and Princess Haya, one of only two female International Federation presidents, used the opportunity to comment on the ongoing commitment of both the FEI and the IOC to promoting women in sport.

“Equestrian sport is one of the few Olympic sports in which women compete on equal terms with men. Signing the Brighton Declaration today shows the ongoing commitment of the FEI to equality in our sport”, Princess Haya said.

“The IOC is working hard to have female participation and representation at all levels. The IOC and President Rogge in particular have done so much to promote women in sport and in the Olympic movement, both in the sporting arena itself and on the governance side.

“The Olympic Charter states that sports are a right for everyone and there should be no discrimination in practicing sports on the basis of gender. That is central to the FEI ethos and we truly value the fact that our sport is one based on equality. Not only do men and women compete on equal terms, but we also have women serving in senior positions at all levels in our sport.”

Women first competed in Olympic equestrian sport 60 years ago. Denmark’s Lis Hartel, individual silver medallist in Dressage at the 1952 Olympic Games, was one of four female riders competing in Helsinki. The first woman to participate in Olympic Jumping was Pat Smythe (GBR), who won team bronze at the 1956 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Eight years later, Lana du Pont (USA) was the first woman to compete in an Olympic three-day event when she rode in Tokyo (JPN) in 1964.

In 1976 in Montreal (CAN), Barbara Kemp became the first woman to design an Olympic Cross Country course. The first woman to design an Olympic Jumping course was Linda Allen, who produced the courses at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA).

The Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport was the result of an international conference on women and sport in Brighton, UK in 1994. The Declaration is based on 10 Principles: Equity and Equality in Society and Sport; Facilities; School and Junior Sport; Developing Participation; High Performance Sport; Leadership in Sport; Education, Training and Development; Sports Information and Research; Resources; Domestic and International Cooperation.

For further information on the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport please visit: http://www.iwg-gti.org/conference-legacies/brighton-1994/

FEI Media contacts
 

Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42
 

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

Bill Thompson, Head of Sport and Leisure at City University London said : “This is a major step towards equality in Sport, and one that Higher Education in Britain is pleased to make.  The benefits are huge; in both promotion and participation in Sport, and BUCS shows forward thinking by signing up to such an important International declaration”

Stephen Baddeley, who has recently been selected by BUCS as the Great Britain candidate for election to the EUSA Executive Board in March 2012, said : “I’m delighted that BUCS is signing up to the Brighton Declaration on Women in Sport. I passionately believe we should do everything in our power to make sure women are fully involved in all aspects of sport at all levels. That doesn¹t just mean on the field of play, but also in sports management, as referees, judges, coaches and sports medicine practitioners. Sport can play a powerful role in enriching people’s lives. Enhancing the roles that women play in sport can do nothing but good for sport and for our communities”

Stephen is a former English, European and Commonwealth badminton champion, and was Director of Sport for Sport England prior to his current role as Director of Sport at the University of Bath.

BUCS joins over 280 organisations to have already endorsed the Brighton Declaration, including the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees, the Commonwealth Games Federation, many international sporting federations and Governments worldwide, amongst others.
 

Source: http://www.bucs.org.uk/news.asp?itemid=9020&itemTitle=BUCS+sign+the+Brighton+Declaration&section=8&sectionTitle=News+from+BUCS

One of the key tools that the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) uses in promoting equality is the Brighton Declaration. It is a document which outlines concrete guiding principles on achieving women’s full involvement in all areas of sport, a document which is an effective tool in the promotion of gender equality.

President of the International Ringette Federation Mr. David Mills said that the IWG is important partner because ringette is developed for women. Ringette is one of those large teams sports where equal playing is a possibility and values of the IWG and ringette run close. Ringette also ranks a the second largest female sport.

Representative of the Canadian Ringette Federation Frances Losier continued that Ringette has outpaced Ice Hockey in signing the declaration and is proud to be part of the IWG family.

We are proud partners of the IWG cause as our values are similar. The declaration is remarkable because it connects ringette to the international women's network and strengthens ringette´s position among other sports.  We have already many women volunteers serving as club chairs, coaches and officials. Like our slogan says, everybody plays, added Kari Lahti, President of the Finnish Ringette Association.

On behalf of the IWG, Co-Chair Raija Mattila remarked that it is agreat honour to have all three associations among the IWG. Ringette has spread during the years and it has always had confident sound of sport. The International Sports Federatations which are located in Finland and Finnish sports federations have been very active with the IWG and hopefully federations elsewhere will also elect to become signatories. It is great to have ringette as the first ice sport to sign the Brighton Declaration. We also hope that ringette would share their best practices on how to encourage  girls and women to be physically active and share their own examples with an interested global audience.

 The main theme of FISU Forum 2012 is "University Sport: A platform for sustainable development". Mattila will contribute to the dicussion concerning the role of university sport in change and women's engagement. The event also presents a welcomed opportunity to recognize the work of FISU and its member associations in the field of gender equality and inspire further action and collaboration in the future.

Together with European Women and Sport (EWS), Women Sport International (WSI) and International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) wishes to express its concern over possible changes to the Technical and Competition Rules of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) regarding its uniform guidelines for women. On behalf of the abovementioned organizations, we would like to urge the International Boxing Association to refrain from making skirts compulsory for women boxers.

This position is in line with our organizations’ overall mission of empowering women and advancing sport with the aim of catalyzing a sustainable sporting culture that enables and values the full involvement of women in every aspect of sport. We maintain that uniform guidelines for women athletes should not detract from respect for their dignity and professionalism, nor should they hinder athletic performance. Limiting women’s competition attire to skirts for the sake of accentuating gender or sexuality would detract focus from the athletic abilities and skills of these individuals and mark a step backwards for the sport of boxing and the sport movement as a whole. Women should be actively involved in decisions concerning changes in uniform rules, and these changes should take into consideration issues of gender equality and inclusiveness.

Thank you kindly for your thoughtful consideration of the issue and for AIBA’s continued commitment to advancing women’s boxing and upholding the principles of human dignity, non-discrimination and the ideals of the Olympic Movement.      

Sincerely yours,

Raija Mattila ,  IWG Co-Chair                                                  

Evelina Georgiades, EWS Chair

Carol Rogers, WSI President                                             

Tansin Benn,  IAPESGW President

“In 2006 we, the Spanish Badminton Federation, designed and created the Women and Badminton Program. Since that moment we have tried to achieve equality in Badminton. To reach all our main objectives we have worked together with the Spanish Ministry of Sports (CSD) and with private and public institutions”, says Mr. Cabello.

“Women and Badminton share all the Brighton Declaration principles and aims and we strongly believe that this small act will be an important step for our program and will be a motivation for other institutions in our country.”

“We would like to thank to IWG for its work and efforts and of course we would like to encourage all who want to join forces with us in the pursuit of equality”, concluded Mr. Cabello.

Information about the signing event in Spanish: www.badminton.es

The Declaration was signed by Ms. Lila de Soysa and by Ms. Brigitte Zufferey, the Co-founders of the LNWIS. Other signatories were Ms. Sylvia Poll, an external LNWIS member and Ms. Paola Simone who represented the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS).

 “Our network is still growing so signing the declaration is also a way of including new members in a formal manner, in particular the students of the AISTS  who may be hearing of the declaration in the women and sport movement for the first time. It also re-enforces our own responsibilities towards girls and women in sport in our own sport organisations so it's important for the LNWIS to be one of the signatories.” says Ms. Lila de Soysa.

Ms. Brigitte Zufferey continues and underlines the importance of the signing: "At some stage we did not even think about our Network signing the Declaration as it was so very obvious that we shared its content. Now, that we have the Declaration back and signed by IWG too, it makes us be even more a part of the women and sport movement. We are looking forward to developing our relationship with the other signatories and sharing the many great achievements women perform within our Federations.” 

IWG Co-Chair Raija Mattila agrees with Ms. Soysa and Ms. Zufferey “Signing the Brighton Declaration marks only the first step towards women's full involvement in sport at all levels, and the IWG eagerly awaits to see how this first step translates into actions and initiatives to support women, especially with respect to promoting women in positions of leadership and decision-making.”

Based in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, the LNWIS is an organization that aims at increasing the contribution, visibility and influence of women within international sport. The organization comprises several representatives from International Federations and has AISTS, the June Canavan Foundation and the City of Lausanne as partners.

Additional information: http://aists.org/index.php?id=62&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=74&cHash=b526d87e3695c7d3b865e607a63c4341

New Brighton signatories from Portugal and Sweden

The Portuguese Table Tennis Federation signed the Brighton Declaration November 29, 2011 and the Swedish University Sports Federation joined the list of all Brighton Signatories on December 2, 2011 increasing the number of all Brighton signatories to 271.

Additional information: http://www.fptm.pt/

Dr. Evelina Georgiades represents Europe in the IWG Group

Ewa Suska said: “By endorsing the Brighton Declaration Sport for All can promote the aim that everybody has the right to be active in sports.”

Ms. Mitra Ruhi, TAFISA Board Member continued: “We are very grateful that this step has been taken and a close cooperation has begun. Especially we are looking to promote women to leadership positions in TAFISA and in its member organizations.”  

On IWG’s behalf Co-Chair Raija Mattila said: “I would like to express how grateful and proud we are to have TAFISA as one of the Brighton Declaration signatories. We truly appreciate the commitment of TAFISA to the promotion of women and sport and gender equality.”

Before the signing took place, a joint TAFISA-IWG International Workshop on Women and Sport for All was organized as a part of the TAFISA Congress. IWG Co-Chair Raija Mattila had a presentation on the framework of the current situation for women and sport. She approached the issue of women and sport from three different perspectives: women and girls as participants in sport, women as leaders in sport and finally she recommended some tools for the future efforts in drafting policies and realising practises in TAFISA’s member organisations.

This was followed by a panel discussion on Women and Sport in Sport for All. The panelists discussed women’s recognition as leaders. “For me it is normal to be a female leader in the men’s football club”, said Ms. Clémence Ross, the President of the Netherlands Institute for Sport and Physical Activity, NISB. From another point of view, Ms. Bedriye Hulya from B-Fit, Turkey said: “In my part of the world the gender roles are strictly bound by the society.”

Equal opportunities were also brought up by Professor Margaret Talbot, ICSSPE President, who in her speech emphasized that we should make sure that our sports are accessible and welcoming for those who like to enter”. Ms. Golda El-Khoury, the Chief of the UNESCO Section for Youth, Sport and Physical Education, explained the relationship between human rights and equality and how to build bridges between modern and traditional sports.

Furthermore, to begin with the implementation of the Brighton Declaration and the promotion of gender equality in TAFISA, a Memorandum of Understanding between TAFISA and IWG was signed. The objectives of the cooperation between TAFISA and IWG are e.g. to create a stronger and more powerful voice for girls and women in Sport for All and to establish a stronger platform for Sport for All activities and programs, particularly those related to gender equality.

The Association for International Sport for All – TAFISA is the leading international Sport for All organization. TAFISA aims to bring joy, health, social interaction, integration and development to communities and citizens around the globe through the promotion of Sport for All and physical activity.

Liga Universitaria de Deportes’ President Julio Jakob says:  ”We are very happy to sign the Brighton Declaration. Even though the federation was established in 1914, only in 2000 we have included women's sports in our activities. Today we practice women's handball, volleyball, field Hockey, swimming and futsal. Furthermore, only in 2006 we included women in our senior managers. We will continue working on this path of inclusion, which is part of our objectives.”

http://www.ligauniversitaria.org.uy/

The Sports Committee of St. Petersburg, Russia, became a Brighton signatory on October 13, 2011. The signing took place in Turku, Finland at the annual meeting between the Sports Committee of St. Petersburg and The Finnish Sports Federation. The Brighton Declaration was signed by Ms Larisa Rodionova, Director of the Sports Committee of St. Petersburg and Ms Pirjo Rusanen who signed the document on behalf of the IWG. Ms. Rusanen commented that of particular interest was that the Sports Committee of St. Petersbug has implemented new ways to develop women’s prospects, sport and gender equality in Russia. Ms Rusanen expressed her pleasure that the Sports Committee of St. Petersburg will be a long-time partner in making important advances within the sphere of women and sport in Russia and globally.

The National University Sports Council of Mexico signed the Brighton Declaration

The Consejo Nacional del Deporte de la Educación (National University Sports Council) of Mexico signed the Brighton Declaration in Mexico City on October 12, 2011. It was the third University Sports Federation to join in the list of Brighton signatories after the Finnish University Sports Federation and the International University Sports Federation. The Declaration was signed by the Secretary General, Mr. Jorge Gerardo Solís Alanś and witnessed by Mr. Marisol Pedraza Luévano and Mr. Manuel Merodio.

At the present time there are 267 organisations that have signed the Brighton Declaration. The growing list of all organizations that have adopted the Declaration, is available at: http://www.iwg-gti.org/brighton-signatories/

Dr. Anita White has done outstanding work in the field of women and sport. Among other things she has been associated with the University as a member of staff from 1971- 1990, and a Governor from 2001 – 2010. She was the Chair of the Organising Committee for the first world conference on women and sport that took place in Brighton, UK, in 1994 bringing together 280 policy and decision makers in sport from 82 countries.

The IWG Co-Chair Raija Mattila said: "The Anita White Foundation is a remarkable way to sustain the spirit of the Brighton Declaration. The IWG is delighted that the Anita White Foundation is established and is very honored to be part of the Archive. For an international network, which has a secretariat that is relocated every four years, this kind of archive brings contingency that is most helpful.The enhancement of women’s leadership and management in the international sports movement is of key importance for the IWG. The IWG promises to support the Anita White Foundation by using all possible means at its disposal."

Addition to the organisers, Dr Anita White OBE and Dr Elizabeth Pike, General Secretary of the International Sociology of Sport Association, Professors Celia Brackenridge and Jay Coakley (Honorary Fellows of the University of Chichester), Raija Mattila (IWG Co-Chair), Professor Kari Fasting (President of WomenSport International), and Sue Tibballs (CEO of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation) were acting as speakers. 

If you would like to make a donation to the fund please do so via the following website: http://www.justgiving.com/Anita-White-Foundation-Fund

More information: http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/anitawhite/?page_id=7