For the first time an Olympics opening ceremony saw women in very delegation. That's progress... unless it becomes an alibi to cover the continuing repression of women in sport. From the National Post:
CAIRO — Across the world, word that Saudi Arabia would send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time immediately rocketed to the top of websites and broadcasts. In Saudi Arabia’s official media: Not even a hint.
The state-sponsored silent treatment was a lesson into the deep intricacies and sensitivities inside the kingdom as it took another measured step away from its ultraconservative traditions.
While Saudi rulers found room to accommodate the demands of the International Olympic Committee to include women athletes, they also clearly acknowledged that — in their view at least — this did not merit billing as a pivotal moment of reform in a nation that still bans women from driving or travelling without the approval of a male guardian.
“It does not change the fact that Saudi women are not free to move and to choose,” said political analyst Mona Abass in neighbouring Bahrain. “The Saudis may use it to boost their image, but it changes little.”
Even the two athletes selected to compete under the Saudi flag — 800-metre runner Sarah Attar from Pepperdine University in California and Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo — live outside the kingdom and carry almost no influence as sports figures. There is no other choice: Women sports remain nearly an underground activity in Saudi Arabia.
Keep reading HERE.
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Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label islam. Show all posts
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Sneaking in the gay at opening ceremony
From Gay Star News:
A brief lesbian kiss at the Olympic opening ceremony has sparked praise and fury after it was aired in some of the most homophobic countries in the world.
Devised by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle, the opening ceremony yesterday (27 July) featured the first ever televised lesbian kiss which originally aired in 1993.
The kiss was shown in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal to be gay. No other gay kiss has ever been shown on television in the Middle Eastern country.
Keep reading HERE.
A brief lesbian kiss at the Olympic opening ceremony has sparked praise and fury after it was aired in some of the most homophobic countries in the world.
Devised by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle, the opening ceremony yesterday (27 July) featured the first ever televised lesbian kiss which originally aired in 1993.
The kiss was shown in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal to be gay. No other gay kiss has ever been shown on television in the Middle Eastern country.
Keep reading HERE.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Saudi fakeout on 2012 Olympics
While this is sure to be enough of a fig leaf for the IOC, Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries continue to restrict women's access to sport. While this report from the AP via ESPN says nothing about the judoka, Attar does not live or train in Saudi Arabia. As we predicted, the woman or women the Saudis would allow to compete seem to be women who don't actually practice sport in the country... Let us hope that what appears to be a step forward is not allowed to hide the reality of the situation of women in these countries, and in particular, women athletes.
LONDON -- Every country competing at the London Games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history after Saudi Arabia agreed Thursday to send two women to compete in judo and track and field.
The move by the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom to break with its practice of fielding male-only teams followed decisions by Qatar and Brunei to send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time.
"With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
Saudi Arabia had been under intense pressure from the International Olympic Committee and human-rights groups to include female athletes. The announcement Thursday followed months of IOC negotiations with the Saudis to bring women to London.
The two female Saudi competitors are Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar.
"A big inspiration for participating in the Olympic Games is being one of the first women for Saudi Arabia to be going," the 17-year-old Attar said in an IOC video from her U.S. training base in San Diego. "It's such a huge honor and I hope that it can really make some big strides for women over there to get more involved in sport."
Attar, who has spent most of her life outside of Saudi Arabia, said she hopes her inclusion will encourage women in the conservative kingdom that does not allow women to vote, drive or participate in sports.
"To any woman who wants to participate, I say 'go for it,' and don't let anybody hold you back," Attar said in the video after running a lap on the track wearing pants and a headscarf.
"We all have potential to get out there and get moving," she said, speaking with an American accent.
Women in Saudi Arabia bear the brunt of their nation's deeply conservative values. They are often the target of the unwanted attention of the kingdom's intrusive religious police, who enforce a rigid interpretation of Islamic law and make sure men and women do not mix in public.
Women cannot be admitted to the hospital or take a job without permission from a male guardian.
There are no written laws that prohibit women from participating in sports, but women are not allowed into stadiums and they cannot rent athletic venues. There is no physical education for girls in public schools, and no women-only hours at swimming pools [Note: of course the real problem is that women are not allowed to be with men... women-only hours would merely be a discriminatory palliative to a bit worse form of discrimination].
Women cannot register for sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering [the] all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics.
Attar and Shahrkhani were entered for the London Games by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by Monday's deadline. Neither qualified to compete in the Olympics, but received special invitations from the IOC "based on the quality of the athletes," Rogge said. "We've looked at the ones who are the closest to qualifying standards and these were these two athletes," he said. "That's always the bottom line in all these invitations."
Rights groups hailed the decision as a step forward for Saudi women in their quest for basic rights, but emphasized that the fundamental problem in the Gulf country -- the legal gender segregation -- remains firmly in place.
"The participation of two Saudi women in London is an important breakthrough, but will not hide the fact that millions of Saudi girls are effectively banned from sports in schools in Saudi Arabia," said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch.
"Now is the time for the International Olympic Committee to use its leverage and lay down achievable conditions to jump-start sport in the kingdom."
Rogge said the IOC will continue to support female Saudi athletes with scholarships and other programs.
"This is not new, we have done it in the past," Roggue said. "We'll now do it with more athletes. That's the best way to improve the skills."
The Gulf kingdom also will include female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees.
"The IOC has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition," Rogge said. "The IOC has been striving to ensure a greater gender balance at the Olympic Games, and today's news can be seen as an encouraging evolution."
The IOC said Brunei has entered one woman in track and field, Maziah Mahusin, while Qatar has entered four female athletes -- swimmer Nada Arkaji, track athlete Noor al-Malki, table tennis player Aya Magdy and shooter Bahiya al-Hamad.
Qatar announced on Wednesday that al-Hamad will be the country's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27.
"I'm overwhelmed to have been asked to carry the Qatari flag at the opening ceremony," she said. "It's a truly historic moment for all athletes."
The goal of gender equity is enshrined in the IOC's charter, but has proved difficult to achieve.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 26 national teams had no women. The figure dropped to three in Beijing four years ago.
In Beijing, women represented 42 percent of the athletes, and the figure is expected to increase in London. Women's boxing is included on the Olympic program in London for the first time.
LONDON -- Every country competing at the London Games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history after Saudi Arabia agreed Thursday to send two women to compete in judo and track and field.
The move by the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom to break with its practice of fielding male-only teams followed decisions by Qatar and Brunei to send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time.
"With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
Saudi Arabia had been under intense pressure from the International Olympic Committee and human-rights groups to include female athletes. The announcement Thursday followed months of IOC negotiations with the Saudis to bring women to London.
The two female Saudi competitors are Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar.
"A big inspiration for participating in the Olympic Games is being one of the first women for Saudi Arabia to be going," the 17-year-old Attar said in an IOC video from her U.S. training base in San Diego. "It's such a huge honor and I hope that it can really make some big strides for women over there to get more involved in sport."
Attar, who has spent most of her life outside of Saudi Arabia, said she hopes her inclusion will encourage women in the conservative kingdom that does not allow women to vote, drive or participate in sports.
"To any woman who wants to participate, I say 'go for it,' and don't let anybody hold you back," Attar said in the video after running a lap on the track wearing pants and a headscarf.
"We all have potential to get out there and get moving," she said, speaking with an American accent.
Women in Saudi Arabia bear the brunt of their nation's deeply conservative values. They are often the target of the unwanted attention of the kingdom's intrusive religious police, who enforce a rigid interpretation of Islamic law and make sure men and women do not mix in public.
Women cannot be admitted to the hospital or take a job without permission from a male guardian.
There are no written laws that prohibit women from participating in sports, but women are not allowed into stadiums and they cannot rent athletic venues. There is no physical education for girls in public schools, and no women-only hours at swimming pools [Note: of course the real problem is that women are not allowed to be with men... women-only hours would merely be a discriminatory palliative to a bit worse form of discrimination].
Women cannot register for sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering [the] all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics.
Attar and Shahrkhani were entered for the London Games by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by Monday's deadline. Neither qualified to compete in the Olympics, but received special invitations from the IOC "based on the quality of the athletes," Rogge said. "We've looked at the ones who are the closest to qualifying standards and these were these two athletes," he said. "That's always the bottom line in all these invitations."
Rights groups hailed the decision as a step forward for Saudi women in their quest for basic rights, but emphasized that the fundamental problem in the Gulf country -- the legal gender segregation -- remains firmly in place.
"The participation of two Saudi women in London is an important breakthrough, but will not hide the fact that millions of Saudi girls are effectively banned from sports in schools in Saudi Arabia," said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch.
"Now is the time for the International Olympic Committee to use its leverage and lay down achievable conditions to jump-start sport in the kingdom."
Rogge said the IOC will continue to support female Saudi athletes with scholarships and other programs.
"This is not new, we have done it in the past," Roggue said. "We'll now do it with more athletes. That's the best way to improve the skills."
The Gulf kingdom also will include female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees.
"The IOC has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition," Rogge said. "The IOC has been striving to ensure a greater gender balance at the Olympic Games, and today's news can be seen as an encouraging evolution."
The IOC said Brunei has entered one woman in track and field, Maziah Mahusin, while Qatar has entered four female athletes -- swimmer Nada Arkaji, track athlete Noor al-Malki, table tennis player Aya Magdy and shooter Bahiya al-Hamad.
Qatar announced on Wednesday that al-Hamad will be the country's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27.
"I'm overwhelmed to have been asked to carry the Qatari flag at the opening ceremony," she said. "It's a truly historic moment for all athletes."
The goal of gender equity is enshrined in the IOC's charter, but has proved difficult to achieve.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 26 national teams had no women. The figure dropped to three in Beijing four years ago.
In Beijing, women represented 42 percent of the athletes, and the figure is expected to increase in London. Women's boxing is included on the Olympic program in London for the first time.
Friday, July 6, 2012
En français / Annie Sugier évoque la décision catastrophique de la FIFA sur le voile islamique
A quelques semaines des Jeux olympiques (JO) de Londres, l'affaire est d'importance. Il s'agit pour l'IFAB (International Association Board), organisme ayant autorité en matière de règles du football, de confirmer la levée de l'interdiction du port du hijab par les footballeuses. La décision finale devant être prise le 5 juillet à Zurich, lors de la réunion extraordinaire de l'IFAB.
Le débat sur ce sujet épineux a connu divers rebondissements, dont l'exclusion en début d'année 2011 de l'équipe de football féminine d'Iran lors des épreuves de qualification pour les JO de Londres. Motif : les joueuses portaient un hijab couvrant tout leur corps alors que la FIFA avait exigé, à titre de compromis, qu'au moins le cou et les oreilles soient découverts.
Le 3 mars, nouveau retournement, l'IFAB décide de lever l'interdiction du port du hijab, au prétexte que le hijab est "un signe culturel et non religieux", façon astucieuse de contourner le règlement de la FIFA (loi 4) qui interdit que l'équipement des joueurs comporte des signes politiques, religieux ou personnels.
UN GROUPE DE TRAVAIL PROVIDENTIEL
Pour arriver à cette conclusion, le vice-président de la FIFA, le prince Ali de Jordanie, avait dû mobiliser un groupe de travail ad hoc, en octobre 2011 à Amman.
Il balayait ainsi la portée des déclarations de Farida Shojaee, responsable du département femme de la Fédération iranienne de football, selon laquelle "les officiels de la FIFA ont confondu le hijab religieux avec un costume national".
Il balayait tout autant les analyses des spécialistes des textes musulmans qui, à l'instar de Samir Amghar, chercheur à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, affirme sans la moindre ambigüité : "Les quatre écoles de jurisprudence dans la théologie musulmane qui édictent les normes en matière de loi islamique sont unanimes à affirmer que le port du voile relève d'une obligation religieuse."
Il restait juste à savoir si le hijab sportif était sans danger.
NOUVEAUX REBONDISSEMENTS
A la surprise générale, la Commission des experts médicaux de la FIFA, chargée d'examiner les résultats des tests de sécurité réalisés sur différents échantillons de hijab, fait état, lors d'une réunion à Budapest en mai 2012, d'éléments nouveaux la conduisant à réclamer avec force que l'interdiction du port du hijab ne soit pas levée !
Selon le Dr Michel D'Hooghe, chef de cette Commission, des essais supplémentaires, sont nécessaires, "certains médecins, y compris de pays musulmans", considèrent que le port du hijab par les footballeuses "présenterait des risques de lésion au niveau du cou et de la carotide en cas de collision lorsque celle-ci se produit à grande vitesse". Le prince Ali, se dit "choqué" et affirme que ces points ont déjà été vérifiés. Indigné, il exige que le Dr D'Hooghe's fournisse des preuves, oubliant que lui-même n'avait produit aucun rapport à l'appui de ses dires.
Le comique de l'affaire c'est que la FIFA – qui a eu au moins le grand mérite de tenter de résister aux diktats de Téhéran – se trouve tiraillée entre les parties prenantes d'un débat sans fin.
Il est tout aussi paradoxal de voir que les promoteurs "de la culture de la modestie et du hijab pour les femmes à travers le monde", veulent à tout prix faire croire que le hijab et le sport sont faits l'un pour l'autre. C'est oublier que le sport c'est d'abord la fête du corps, et que le hijab est une stigmatisation du corps féminin.
Le plus logique ne serait-il pas de revenir à l'application de la règle unique qui impose la neutralité politique et religieuse dans le sport ?
Annie Sugier est l'auteure de Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques (2012, ed. Jourdan).
En français / Sport international : la laïcité, sauf quand il s'agit de femmes
Du site ajib.fr:
Cette année, les dates des Jeux Olympiques d’été de Londres coïncident avec celles du mois sacré de Ramadan. Près de 3000 athlètes seraient concernés par les effets du jeûne, soit quasiment 25% des sportifs. Chiffres qui n’ont pas l’air de gêner le CIO et les organisateurs Londoniens qui restent fermes sur la question depuis sept ans.
Le jeûne durant les épreuves
Il y a sept ans, lors de l’attribution des Jeux, de nombreux comités olympiques nationaux avaient exprimé leurs inquiétudes. 2 500 à 3 000 athlètes seraient concernés par le jeûne du mois de Ramadan. Ces derniers sont censés ni boire ni manger entre le lever et le coucher du soleil, ce qui pourrait avoir des conséquences sur leur santé physique les jours d’épreuves.
Cette année, le jeûne durera plus de 12h entre l’heure de El-Fajr et de El-Maghreb au moment des Jeux. Ce qui constitue une épreuve en soit pour tous les jeûneurs, qu’Allah agréé nos actions. Les athlètes prennent-ils un risque même s’ils s’y sont préparés ? Londres n’est pas la capital des températures arides, cependant un sportif ressent une soif importante après un très grand effort physique.
La laïcité coûte que coûte
Le CIO et le Comité Organisateur Londonien sont restés fermes sur la question. Lassana Palenfo a été employé par le CIO pour aplanir les angles avec les pays réticents face à cette conjecture. En effet, l’Égypte, le Maroc et la Turquie ne comprennent pas cette décision. L’Ivoirien Lassana Palenfo rétorque que « les Jeux doivent rester apolitiques et areligieux. Si l’on cède, les bouddhistes, les juifs demanderont des aménagements ». « La religion doit rester une affaire personnelle », a-t-il conclu.
La laïcité est sportive. Elle s’invite même aux Jeux Olympiques. Les pratiques religieuses de chacun ne doivent bien entendu pas entrer dans le stade, mais le jeûne de près de 25% des athlètes aurait dû être pris en considération. Dans le cadre des Jeux Olympiques, ces musulmans débutent cette grande compétition avec une difficulté supplémentaire. Mais nous connaissons la récompense du jeûneur. Elle est bien plus grande qu’une médaille d’or ou d’argent.
Les anthropologues vont être attentifs et les médias vont s’en donner à cœur joie. Certains athlètes seront peut être forcés de faire un choix, selon leur état de fatigue physique ou mentale. Que Dieu les préserve.
Sur le hidjab, sports.fr :
Outre la technologie sur la ligne de but et les arbitres assistants supplémentaires, la Fifa a confirmé jeudi une décision qui ne manquera pas de faire débat: la levée de l'interdiction faite aux footballeuses de porter le foulard islamique, le hijab. Le fils du roi Hussein de Jordanie, le prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, vice-président de la Fifa et membre du comité exécutif, a donc obtenu gain de cause. Au grand dam des féministes.
L'International Football Association Board (Ifab) a dit oui. Oui à la levée de l'interdiction du port du voile par les footballeuses, proposée en mars dernier, à l'occasion d'une Assemblée Générale de cet organisme lié à la Fifa et ayant autorité en matière de règles du football. Réunis jeudi à Zurich, les quatre membres de la Fifa et les quatre représentants des quatre fédérations du football au Royaume-Uni, qui le composent, ont voté à l'unanimité -de façon temporaire pour une période d'essai- cette décision après avoir étudié des rapports du responsable médical de la Fifa.
Et l'instance internationale du ballon rond de faire volte-face sur un sujet délicat. Le 3 juin 2011, l'équipe féminine d'Iran était ainsi éliminée de la course aux Jeux Olympiques après que ses joueuses ont refusé d'ôter leur voile lors d'une rencontre face à la Jordanie, le règlement de la Fifa prévoyant qu'au moins le cou et les oreilles soient découverts. Une éviction qui avait lancé le coup d'envoi de la campagne menée par le prince Ali Bin Al Hussein de Jordanie, vice-président de la Fifa et membre du comité exécutif, visant à faire changer les lois du jeu.
Une entreprise payante puisque le 3 mars dernier, l'Ifab décide, à la surprise générale, de lever l'interdiction du port du hijab, arguant qu'il s'agit d'un "signe culturel et non religieux". Un avis que ne partage pas Samir Amghar, chercheur à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales cité par Le Monde: "Les quatre écoles de jurisprudence dans la théologie musulmane, qui édictent les normes en matière de loi islamique, sont unanimes à affirmer que le port du voile relève d'une obligation religieuse."
Les féministes remontées
La Fifa, elle, a estimé via son secrétaire général, Jérôme Valcke, que les "questions de sécurité et médicales" ne se posaient plus et que l'interdiction était donc levée. De quoi s'attirer les foudres des féministes. Pour Anne Sugier, présidente de la Ligue du droit international des femmes interrogée par Le Monde, "il est tout aussi paradoxal de voir que les promoteurs "de la culture de la modestie et du hijab pour les femmes à travers le monde", veulent à tout prix faire croire que le hijab et le sport sont faits l'un pour l'autre. C'est oublier que le sport c'est d'abord la fête du corps, et que le hijab est une stigmatisation du corps féminin.
L'association "Ni Putes Ni Soumises", elle, s'inquiétait déjà d'une "régression totale" en mars dernier. "Le plus grave, c'est que c'est une décision qui vient de haut, estimait sa présidente, Asma Guéfini, dans les colonnes du Parisien. Et puis, ça commence par le football et ça se termine par tous les sports. La Fifa ne connaît pas le combat des femmes comme nous. Je pense qu'elle est influencée par un lobbying intense des pays riches d'Orient, notamment le Qatar. Il y a là un revirement de sa part car dans son règlement, il est dit que « les joueurs et les dirigeants ne doivent pas arborer sur leur tenue de message ou de slogan d'ordre politique, religieux, commercial ou personnel ».
La Fifa a donc tout simplement décidé de modifier son règlement pour valider le port d'un accessoire déjà visible sur les terrains de rugby ou dans les combats de taekwondo. Une nouvelle réunion de l'Ifab est prévue en octobre. Non pas pour évoquer la condition de la femme, mais pour discuter des détails, "le seul point restant maintenant est la couleur et le dessin du foulard", a précisé Jérôme Valcke.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
En français / Le port du hidjab bientôt autorisé sur les terrains ?
Le port du hidjab bientôt autorisé sur les terrains ?
Verra-t-on, dans les compétitions internationales, des équipes féminines courir après le ballon couvertes de la tête aux pieds : caleçon long sous le short, manches longues et voile islamique ne laissant apparaître que l’ovale du visage ? Le 5 juillet prochain, la FIFA (la fédération internationale de football) pourrait autoriser le port du hidjab sur les terrains. Une petite révolution qui risque de se faire dans l’indifférence générale. Depuis que l’International Board (IFAB), l’instance qui réglemente le jeu, a donné son feu vert de principe, le 3 mars dernier, l’affaire n’a pas mobilisé les foules. Aucune sportive n’a réagi publiquement. Sollicitées, la FFF (Fédération française de football) refuse de s’exprimer et la FIFA indique qu’elle ne communiquera sur le sujet qu’une fois la décision arrêtée. Seule une poignée de féministes brandit le carton rouge. Cette décision pourrait pourtant être lourde de conséquences.
Continuer à lire ICI.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
What progress for women in the Olympics since 2008?
BEIJING (AP) Women are competing at the 2008 Games in record numbers, yet the Olympic movement remains under fire on the gender front - accused of failing to reduce male dominance in its own ranks and tolerating countries which exclude women from their teams.
Of more than 11,000 athletes assembled in Beijing, 42 percent are women. That's up from less than 26 percent in 1988, and illustrates the success of an aggressive campaign since then by the International Olympic Committee to move toward gender equity.
The IOC itself, and its affiliates, haven't done nearly as well, falling short of their own goals.
Of the IOC's 110 members, 16 are women [approximately 20 today in 2012] - and only one serves on the powerful 15-member executive board [two today]. A sizable majority of the 205 national Olympic committees have executive bodies that are at least 80 percent male, and only two of the 35 Olympic sports federations have women as presidents.
"I'm deeply disappointed," said Anita DeFrantz, the senior U.S. member of the IOC and chair of its Women and Sport Commission.
"I don't understand why we haven't been successful," she said. "I'm reviewing everything to determine what it is that's blocking us." [Um, sexism from men and the women who are the objective allies of sexism?]
One fundamental problem is that sports administration in many nations remains an old boys club. DeFrantz said change will be too slow unless the men in power commit themselves to grooming women as leaders.
DeFrantz also is among many advocates of women's sports who have run out of patience with Saudi Arabia, the last major nation that bars women from its Olympic teams. She wants the Saudis - who have fielded a 17-man squad in Beijing - to be excluded from the 2012 Games in London unless they end their males-only policy. [So far, no real progress there, despite the Saudi fake out this week which will allow the IOC to claim that the "problem" is "solved"]
"Perhaps after these games it will be clear they will be the only outliers and have to allow women to compete," DeFrantz said. "The women in that country deserve the opportunity."
Critics contend the IOC is failing to adhere to its own charter, which says discrimination on the basis of sex is "incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement." They suggest that a double-standard is at work, with the IOC more tolerant of gender bias than it was of the institutionalized racial segregation that triggered South Africa's exclusion from the Olympics during the apartheid era. [Yep.]
However, many IOC members may be reluctant to bar the Saudis from London.
"I'd be surprised and disappointed if we took such draconian action," said senior IOC member Kevan Gosper. "All that would do is have the athletes of that country suffer." [Well, the male athletes. Remember that the women athletes are already suffering, and you seem decidedly unmoved that their situation.]
Apartheid "was considered a crime against humanity," Gosper said. "I don't think that can be considered parallel to the effort to bring women into absolutely equal gender balance." [Alas, sexism is not considered a crime against humanity. But it should be.]
Whether Saudi Arabia changes on its own remains to be seen. The government is generally wary of angering conservative Islamic clergy, yet the issue of women in sports has been raised recently in the Saudi media and reportedly has been debated by a high-level government advisory council.
Saudi Arabia currently bans sports and physical education classes in state-run girls' schools. Women have discreetly formed a few sports teams on their own, but the level of competition is considered a world away from Olympic caliber.
Qatar joined Saudi Arabia this year in sending an all-male team to Beijing. But several Arab countries that formerly excluded women have relented - Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, for example. The UAE last week chose a woman as its Olympic flagbearer - Sheikha Maitha Almaktoum, a royal family member competing in taekwondo.
Ebrahim Abdul Malek, general secretary of the UAE's Olympic committee, told a local newspaper, The National, that this was a message to "the entire Gulf region and the whole Arab world. ... everyone, man and woman, should simply work hard at their sport. There are no limits at all."
Among the other Muslim women competing is Robina Muqimyar from war-torn Afghanistan, which was expelled from the Olympics when the women-oppressing Taliban was in power.
Muqimyar is back for a second Olympics after becoming one of the first two Afghan women ever to compete in the games four years ago.
"I want to change the history of Afghanistan," she said then. "I want the other women to watch me and see me and follow me."
Even within the realm of Olympic competition, there are some limits for women. Two sports - ski-jumping and boxing - remain male-only despite vigorous lobbying by the women who compete in them.
Nine women ski jumpers have filed suit against the organizers of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, alleging that excluding their sport is a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees gender equality. The IOC insists women's ski jumping is too embryonic to be included - its first world championship isn't until next year.
The IOC rejected women's boxing for Beijing three years ago - in part because of concerns about the International Amateur Boxing Association that weren't related to gender. There may be a new bid next year to get women's boxing on the program for London. [Progress here, but synchronized swimming still lacks parity, with men being excluded from international competition, except at the Gay Games.]
Underrepresentation of women on the IOC may be the problem slowest to fade.
"It's different from running a race or playing a team event," Gosper said. "You don't have to be voted into a gold medal. But in administration, most positions are obtained by voting, and if you come from a base where it's almost been 100 percent masculine, it's going to be a more tedious and challenging process."
Monday, June 25, 2012
Saudi Arabia does the bare minimum to allow IOC to save face on religious discrimination against women
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| Dalma Rushdi Malhas, human fig leaf |
We note that the token woman is likely to be equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who competed in the first Youth Olympics, not as part of the Saudi Arabian team, but at the invitation of the IOC, and at her own expense.
Note also that women remain in effect excluded from sport, and that only a very few sports could ever be open to women due to Islamist repression with regard to dress and access to public spaces.
We also note that the Saudis themselves explain that they were force to make this "concession" to the Olympic Charter only due to pressure and controversy, which is something to remember when the objective allies of repressive regimes call for quiet diplomacy rather than public action. The only reason the IOC was "negotiating" with the Saudis (and just why should an organization be negotiating to have its rules respected?) was because outside groups, including the FGG, have repeatedly called on the IOC to respect its own charter.
We fear that this token participation will allow the IOC to claim "victory", and that the exclusion of women from sport in Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries will continue unabated, and that the calls for religion-based interference with the practice of sport, including the effective requirement for the hijab to be worn by women athletes, will only grow stronger.
Saudi Arabia is to allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time.
Officials say the country's Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify".
The decision will end recent speculation as to whether the entire Saudi team could have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.
The public participation of women in sport is still fiercely opposed by many Saudi religious conservatives.
There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in the country.
Saudi officials say that with the Games now just a few weeks away, the only female competitor at Olympic standard is showjumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas.
But they added that there may be scope for others to compete and that if successful they would be dressed "to preserve their dignity".
In practice this is likely to mean modest, loose-fitting garments and "a sports hijab", a scarf covering the hair but not the face.
For the desert kingdom, the decision to allow women to compete in the Olympics is a huge step, overturning deep-rooted opposition from those opposed to any public role for women.
As recently as April, the indications were that Saudi Arabia's rulers would accede to the sensitivities of the religious conservatives and maintain the ban on allowing women to take part.
But for the past six weeks there have been intense, behind-the-scenes discussions led by King Abdullah, who has long been pushing for women to play a more active role in Saudi society.
'Subtle reform'
In secret meetings in Jeddah, officials say a consensus was reached in mid-June between the king, the crown prince, the foreign minister, the leading religious cleric, the grand mufti and others, to overturn the ban.
An announcement was ready to be made but then had to be delayed as the country marked the sudden death of Crown Prince Nayef.
"It's very sensitive," a senior Saudi official told the BBC. "King Abdullah is trying to initiate reform in a subtle way, by finding the right balance between going too fast or too slow.
"For example, he allowed the participation of women in the Shura council [an advisory body] so the Olympic decision is part of an ongoing process, it's not isolated."
The official acknowledged that to refuse to let women take part would have looked bad on the international stage.
"Partly because of the mounting criticism we woke up and realised we had to deal with this. We believe Saudi society will accept this," the official said.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Jacques Rogge rejects latest scheme to allow Saudi Arabia to exclude women from sport
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| Dalma Malhas, an Saudi equestrian athlete who competed 2010 Youth Olympics in a private capacity. |
From Inside the Games:
May 25 - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has revealed there is no chance that Saudi Arabia's female athletes will be able to compete at the Olympic Games under the IOC Flag in a declaration that ups the pressure on the country ahead of London 2012.
There have been continuous calls for them to be banned from London 2012 since the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) refused to bow to pressure to select women athletes for their Olympic team.
It was thought there was a still chance that Saudi Arabia's top female athletes might compete at London 2012 under the IOC banner, but Rogge has completely dismissed the idea, insisting that they are still working to solve the issue.
"There is absolutely no need to consider the .ossibility of the participation of Saudi women under the IOC Flag," said the IOC President here at the Sport Accord Convention.
Keep reading HERE.
Learn more about the history of the Islamist campaign against woman in sport:
Bn French) HERE.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Mark Stephens: "Let's make LGBT rights the centrepiece of London 2012"
This article ends with three exhortations. The first is to LGBT athletes. You are the only ones who have the glare of attention that can be used to effect real change. If you feel safe to do so, come out and make a visible, memorable, courageous gesture for LGBT rights. Show that you are proud to be LGBT, just as Smith and Carlos were proud to be black.
The second is to the LGBT athletes who don't feel safe - and there must be many of you. I invite you to apply for asylum in this country on the grounds that you will face persecution at home if you are open about your sexual identity. Our supreme court has recognised, in HJ (Iran) in 2010, that a person cannot be asked to conceal their true sexual identity in order to avoid persecution. The court held that people must be allowed to live their lives free from the fear of serious harm coming to them as a result of their sexual identity. No one would consider it acceptable for a straight person to have to hide his or her identity: the same applies to LGBT people. LGBT athletes from the 84 criminalising jurisdictions should use this case to apply for asylum in the UK when they arrive for the Games in July.
Finally, to the IOC Committee. I implore you to ban countries where homosexuality is criminalised from competing in the Olympics. The Games are a valuable way of protecting human rights and promoting equality, a principle enshrined in the Olympic Charter itself. To distinguish between racial apartheid in South Africa, gender apartheid under the Taliban and the criminalisation of consensual sex between adults of the same gender is artificial. Countries that sanction such discrimination, and the violence that goes with it, should not be allowed to compete. Far from bringing politics into sport, this step would fulfil the values of the Olympic Charter.
Read in full HERE.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Atlanta Plus Committee's legacy of action
Annie is holding a tshirt with the message: "Atlanta Plus means more women", along with the section of the Olympic Charter banning all forms of discrimination from the Olympic Movement, while Linda shows the Beijing tshirt.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
En français / Vient de paraître : "Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques"
Cette bataille commence au début des années 90. Trois femmes d'origine et de parcours différents se lancent dans une aventure originale qui les amène à s'intéresser au monde de l'Olympisme. Leur objectif : s'appuyer sur les termes de la Charte olympique pour obtenir que soient exclus des JO les pays pratiquant la ségrégation sexuelle à l'encontre des femmes, tout comme l'Afrique du Sud l'avait été pour cause d'apartheid.
Un an plus tôt, à Téhéran, les plus hautes autorités de la République Islamique, avaient décidé de lancer un défi au monde à travers le sport en propageant la culture "du hijab et de la modestie pour les femmes libres du monde". Evidemment, ces deux visions du droit des femmes et donc de la société, ne pouvaient que se heurter de front. L'une fondée sur les principes universels des droits de l'Homme, l'autre sur la soumission du droit de femmes aux diktats religieux et culturels.
Ce livre, écrit dans un style vif et humoristique, retrace un combat qui s'étend sur deux décennies et s'apparente à celui de David contre Goliath. On y rencontre des personnages contemporains aussi différents que le commandant Massoud, Juan Antonio Samaranch ou Jacques Rogge, mais aussi des pionniers de l'Olympisme tout droit sortis de l'Histoire, tels le baron de Coubertin et son ennemie jurée, la Française Alice Milliat...
Mais cette fois-ci, ce n'est pas David qui gagnera la partie.
Vous pouvez vous procurer ce livre ICI.
New York Times looks at women athletes, Saudi discrimination and more
If Saudi Arabia treated women any more dismissively, it could host the Masters.
After signaling that Saudi women may be allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time at the London Games, Saudi officials retreated. The only possibility remaining, it seems, is that a few Saudi women might gain entry as unofficial participants. They must walk behind men at home, but apparently cannot walk behind the Saudi flag in London.
“Saudi Arabia has pretty much decided to play hedgehog, head pulled in, spikes out,” said Christoph Wilcke, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, who wrote a scathing report about the discrimination against female athletes in the ultraconservative Islamic kingdom, where even physical education classes and sports club memberships are prohibited. “They are irked by all this attention.”
As the London Games approach, all sorts of mixed messages are being sent about women, some by women themselves, having more to do with what they will wear and how they will behave and how they should be controlled than about how they will perform in competition.
In a recent profile of the beach volleyball player Zara Dampney, The London Evening Standard noted , “She’s got one of the most talked-about bottoms in British Olympic sport but can’t understand the fascination with it.”
Officials of the International Amateur Boxing Association, noted fashion mavens, had a brilliant idea over the past year, a fistic version of “Project Runway.”
They suggested that women try wearing skirts in competition, urging pleats to feminize the punches. The man in charge of the association — they are always men — said he had received complaints that spectators could not tell women from men beneath the protective headgear. Instead of referring these spectators to optometrists, he referred the boxers to the Ring Magazine spring collection.
Keep reading HERE.
Friday, April 6, 2012
After Saudis spit in Jacques Rogge's face will he use a hijab to wipe himself off?
Unless the IOC excludes Saudi Arabia from the 2012 Olympics, they will have zero credibility as the self-proclamed owners of international sport.
(Beirut) – The Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee confirmed on April 4, 2012, that Saudi Arabia will not support women in practicing sports. Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal said: “Female sports activity has not existed [in the kingdom] and there is no move thereto in this regard.”
“At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics or other international championships,” Prince Nawwaf continued.
“If the International Olympic Committee was looking for an official affirmation of Saudi discrimination against women in sports, the minister in charge just gave it,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is impossible to square Saudi discrimination against women with the noble values of the Olympic Charter.”
Speaking at a press conference in Jeddah that concluded a meeting of Arab youth and sports ministers, the prince claimed that the demand for women’s participation in the Olympics and other international championships came from Saudi women living abroad, and that his organizations would not officially support that demand, but would instead cooperate with those women to ensure their participation “occurred in the appropriate framework and comported with Islamic law.” The prince said he was in constant contact with the Saudi mufti and religious scholars to insure nothing “infringed upon the Muslim woman.”
In a February report, “’Steps of the Devil’: Denial of Women's and Girls' Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia,”Human Rights Watch documented the systematic discrimination against women in sports in Saudi Arabia, including their exclusion from the 153 sports clubs regulated by Nawwaf’s ministry, the Saudi National Olympic Committee (NOC), and the 29 national sporting federations, which are also overseen by Nawwaf in his capacity as head of the NOC.
Human Rights Watch urged the IOC to put Saudi discrimination against women in sport on the agenda of its next executive board meeting in Quebec on May 23.
“The time is running out for hope that dialogue with Saudi authorities will lead to a change in discriminatory policies,” Wilcke said. “It is clear that a symbolic participation in the London 2012 games by Saudi women athletes does not mean an end to the systematic discrimination against women practicing sports in Saudi Arabia and in international competitions.”
The likely token woman for 2012 had been supposed to be "Dalma Rushdi Malhas [pictured above], an 18-year-old equestrienne who won a bronze medal in the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics. At that time, Malhas did not officially represent the kingdom. “I didn’t know whether I was allowed but when I got invited of course I didn’t think twice and went at my own expense. I didn’t care much about me being there as a representative of Saudi Arabia, because anyone could probably do that. But getting a medal was the key, and that’s not easy for anyone, and I wanted that — and only that gives recognition to my country,” she told the Arab News.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Olympic officials shocked, shocked that Saudi regime discriminates against women
Saudi Arabia has been accused of breaching the spirit of the Olympic movement by discriminating against women in sport and failing to bring a female team to the 2012 London Games.
Tessa Jowell, the former culture secretary and Olympics minister – who is now a member of the Olympic Board – said the Saudis were "clearly breaking the spirit of the Olympic Charter's pledge to equality" with their attitude to women in sport and the Games.
The Saudi government, which closed private gyms for women in 2009 and 2010 and severely limits their ability to undertake physical activity, is under mounting international pressure to adopt a more liberal approach.
Jowell spoke out after a report by Human Rights Watch highlighted the way in which Saudi Arabian women and girls are denied the right to sport.
[...]
The International Olympic Committee reserves a limited number of places for male and female athletes who are not required to meet the qualifying standards in swimming and athletics events. However, despite this concession, Saudi Arabia has never sponsored a female team and its national Olympic committee does not have a women's section.
Jowell stopped short of saying the Saudis should be excluded from this year's or future Games if they did not improve their record. But she called on them to demonstrate a commitment to change, noting that Afghanistan was banned from the 2000 Sydney Olympics over its attitude to women under Taliban rule.
"The London Games would be the perfect opportunity for the Saudis to spell out a way forward," she said. "I would like to see them set out a clear plan for equal inclusion of women in time for the 2016 games in Rio de Janiero. This has to be a substantive commitment."
Barbara Keeley, a Labour MP who works extensively to promote women's sport, said female athletes had fought for more than a hundred years to take part in the Olympics on an equal basis with men. "It is time to call a halt to discrimination against women in Olympic events. It seems totally unacceptable for any country competing in the Olympics to be allowed to have a team that is entirely male."
A spokesman for the IOC said some progress was being made. "The IOC strives to ensure the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement are universal and non-discriminatory, in line with the Olympic Charter and our values of respect, friendship and excellence. National Olympic committees are encouraged to uphold that spirit in their delegations. The IOC does not give ultimatums or deadlines, but believes a lot can be achieved through dialogue.
"We have been in regular contact with the three national Olympic committees that have yet to send women to the Olympics, ie Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabia. As a result of fruitful discussions, the three NOCs included women in their delegations competing at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore last summer. Dalma Rushdi Malas was one of them. She was the first female Saudi athlete to compete in an Olympic competition and claimed a bronze medal in the equestrian jumping event."
Read in full HERE.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
En français / La déclaration de Los Angeles du CIO laisse à désirer
Les promesses du CIO pour un sport plus féminin
Cafouillage - Écrit par Arnaud Bihel - Lundi, 20 Février 2012 17:20
Le Comité international olympique promet de renforcer la place des femmes aux postes de responsabilité. Et se félicite que les JO de Londres seront les premiers Jeux paritaires. Mais n'évoque qu'entre les lignes le cas sensible de l'Arabie Saoudite.
Une déclaration de bonnes intentions. La 5ème Conférence mondiale sur les femmes et le sport organisée par le Comité international olympique (CIO) a abouti samedi 18 février à l'adoption de la "déclaration de Los Angeles". Le texte met notamment en avant la nécessité de faire accéder davantage de femmes aux postes de responsabilité dans le domaine sportif.
« Je promets que nous ferons ce qui est nécessaire », a assuré Jacques Rogge, président du CIO. Le comité devrait « revoir le nombre minimum » de femmes nommées dans ses instances décisionnaires, stipule la déclaration. Les comités nationaux sont également invités à faire de même. Le texte n'a toutefois rien de contraignant et ne fixe pas d'objectifs chiffrés. Aujourd'hui, les 4 vice-présidents du Bureau exécutif du CIO sont des hommes. Sur ses 10 autres membres, on ne compte que 2 femmes.
Juste une allusion
La déclaration de Los Angeles salue le fait que les JO de Londres seront « historiques » dans la mesure où, pour la première fois, tous les sports au programme des Jeux connaîtront des épreuves féminines.
Mais le texte souligne que ce principe « devrait être étendu pour assurer que tous les comités nationaux incluront des femmes dans leurs sélections ». Une allusion, sans la nommer, à l'Arabie Saoudite, dont la délégation aux Jeux de Londres risque d'être exclusivement masculine... comme cela a toujours été le cas, sans que le pays ait été pénalisé par les instances olympiques.
La semaine dernière, l'ONG Human Rights Watch appelait le CIO à ne pas se contenter de déclarations d'intention et à se montrer ferme à l'encontre du royaume intégriste, qui « mène une politique discriminatoire systématique à l’encontre des femmes dans les domaines du sport et de l’éducation physique ».
A la clôture de la Conférence de Los Angeles, Jacques Rogge a assuré que des discussions se poursuivaient avec les autorités du royaume pour assurer la présence d'athlètes saoudiennes à Londres. Le président du CIO s'est déclaré « prudemment optimiste ».
Notre réaction : On constate que la parité n'est pas atteinte en termes d'égalité d'accès des hommes et des femmes aux sports olympiques (exclusion des hommes de la natation synchronisée, par exemple), que le CIO n'a pas pris une position claire et ferme de protection des sportives des pressions religieuses, et que la parité en termes de participation dont se vante le CIO cache des disparités honteuses entre sports et entre pays, avec le cas de l'Arabie saoudite n'étant que le cas extrême d'un problème bien plus large. Le mouvement sportif a, avec raison, exclu pendant des années un pays, l'Afrique du sud, qui privait une partie de sa population d'accès au sport. Comme c'est trop souvent le cas, une discrimination tout autant flagrante, tout autant inacceptable, tout autant contraire aux principes de la Charte olympique passe comme si c'était normal, ou en tout cas acceptable lorsqu'il s'agit de femmes. Ne serait-ce pas temps que l'on oblige le club fermé de l'élite (quasi exclusivement masculine) du CIO, autoproclamé maître du sport, anti-démocratique, à respecter au moins, au moins ses propres principes ?
Read all our coverage of this conference ICI.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
New report points out Olympic hypocrisy with regard to Islamist exclusion of women from sport
February 16 - Saudi Arabia should be banned from London 2012 unless they pledge to end discrimination against women which means that the Gulf nation has never sent a female athlete to the Olympics, a new report published today by Human Rights Watch claims.
Saudi Arabia is one of only three countries, long with Brunei and Qatar, never to have sent a female athlete to the Olympics, although Qatar has promised to send women competitors to London providing they qualify.
But in a 51-page report, 'Steps of the Devil': Denial of Women and Girls' Right to Sport in Saudi Arabia," Human Rights Watch claims that Saudi Arabia actively denies girls girls physical education in state schools, as well as following discriminatory practices in licensing women's gyms and supporting only all-male sports clubs.
The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee also has no programmes for women athletes, which violates the Olympic Charter claims Human Rights Watch, an international non-Governmental organisation based in New York City.
The Charter explicitly forbids "any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, sex or otherwise."
"'No women allowed,' is the Kingdom's message to Saudi women and girls who want to play sports," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Keep reading HERE.
Read the HRC report HERE.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Will Iranian women be able to watch the Olympics?
(CNN) -- Iranian authorities have ordered a ban on women from watching live broadcasts of soccer matches at public movie theaters, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.
A state police agency that monitors Iranian businesses called for the ban because "the presence of women and families at movie theaters increases security risks and inappropriate behavior," ILNA reported.
Movie theaters in Iran's major cities have broadcast matches from this year's Asian Cup, where Iran's national soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals after winning its first three matches.
The final decision on the ban rests with a government office, according to an official with Iran's movie theater industry. "Movie theaters operate under the authority of the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, so we're waiting for their decision in this matter," Amir Hossein Alamalhoda was quoted as saying.
Women already are banned from attending men's soccer matches at stadiums. Hard-line government officials and clerics say the presence of women at men's sporting events is not compatible with Islam.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
En français / La Fédération des Gay Games soutient l'appel pour des JO libres de discrimination sexiste et homophobe
L’universalité de la Loi Olympique
Les Jeux Olympiques (JO) s’ouvriront à Londres le 27 juillet 2012.
“Le Mouvement Olympique a toujours signifié beaucoup plus que de simples compétition sportuves” (Déclaration du Président du CIO)*.
Dans les sites olympiques, seule s’applique la Charte Olympique basée sur des valeurs universelles. Les membres du Mouvement Olympique ont fait serment de la respecter.
La Charte Olympique énonce :
• Un objectif : “Contribuer à la construction d’un monde meilleur” (chapitre 1, règle 1.1)
• Des principes “éthiques fondamentaux universels” tels que : “Toute forme de discrimination (y compris de sexe) est incompatible avec l’appartenance au Mouvement Olympique” (Principe 5)
• Un engagement pour l’égalité : “Mettre en oeuvre le principe de l’égalité entre hommes et femmes” (chapitre 1, règle 2.7)
• La neutralité du sport : “Aucune sorte de démonstration ou de propagande politique,religieuse ou raciale n’est autorisée dans un lieu, site ou autre emplacement olympique”
(chapitre 5, règle 51.3)
Appliquez la Charte Olympique !
Dans les systèmes politiques et sociaux marqués par le poids des traditions culturelles ou religieuses, les femmes sont encore soumises à des contraintes résultant de stéréotypes sexuels et de tabous.
Dans le Stade olympique, les athlètes,hommes et femmes, respectant une loi commune, revêtus de tenues similaires, partagent la joie de l’effort et du dépassement de soi.
Lire l'appel ICI.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Federation of Gay Games supports the appeal for 2012 Olympics free of gender discrimination
Universality of the Olympic Charter
The Olympic Games will open in London on 27 July 2012
“The Olympic Movement has always been about more than just a sporting competition” (IOC President)*.
The only Law that governs the Games is the Olympic Charter based on universal values which each member of the Olympic Movement swears to observe (Olympic Oath).
The Olympic Charter proclaims:
• A goal: ‘to contribute to building a better world’ (Chapter 1, Rule1.1)
• Universal fundamental ethical principles, such as: ‘Any form of discrimination [including gender discrimination] is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement’ (Principle 5)
• A commitment to equality: ‘implementing the principle of equality of men and women’ (Chapter 1, Rule 2.7)
• Neutrality in sport: ‘No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted on any Olympic sites, venues or other areas’ (Chapter 5, Rule 51.3)
Implement The Olympic Charter!
Where cultural and/or religious traditions govern political institutions and social mores, women are still subject to constraints linked to gender stereotypes and taboos.
In the stadium, under the same law, wearing similar attires, women athletes share with men the joy of exertion and striving for the highest goal.
Read more about this appeal in the brochure HERE.
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