{"id":88803,"date":"2017-03-07T22:47:39","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T20:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africa-needs-to-do-more-to-promote-women-in-sports-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2017-03-07T22:47:39","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T20:47:39","slug":"south-africa-needs-to-do-more-to-promote-women-in-sports-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africa-needs-to-do-more-to-promote-women-in-sports-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa needs to do more to promote women in sports | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa needs to do more to promote women in sports<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/span> Reuters\/Arnd WiegmannH<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

South Africa fancies itself to be passionate about sports and over the past two decades has launched a series of initiatives to promote women\u2019s participation. But it doesn\u2019t have a great deal to show for it.<\/p>\n

Women still remain underrepresented in all sports in the country. The best example is at professional levels where the nation\u2019s main sports, cricket, rugby and football, have yet to consider establishing domestic leagues for women.<\/p>\n

This is in marked contrast to England and Australia, for example. In England where cricket, rugby and football also hold sway administrators have set up professional leagues for women. Australia also has professional leagues for women in cricket, rugby and football. India, too, is set to launch a women\u2019s cricket league. <\/p>\n

Although numbers are hard to come by, the above comparison shows how far women lag behind in South Africa. This is despite the fact that it has adopted a number of declarations and passed laws to remedy the situation. For example, South Africa was one of the first countries to adopt the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport passed nearly 23 years ago to increase women\u2019s participation in sport. <\/p>\n

In addition, a number of initiatives have been launched to foster a sporting culture more conducive to the involvement of women. These included a National Strategy for Women and Sport which focused on both the grassroots level, helping more women to take part in sport, and the elite level, supporting those with potential to reach the highest levels \u2013 the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Policy statements from the department of Sport and Recreation South Africa also articulate the importance of providing equal opportunities for women in sport.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2017 and there\u2019s little to show for all this activity. Our attempts to garner more information about women and sport in South Africa and the country\u2019s national strategy have yielded few results. Data on the number of women and girls participating in sport are not readily available, despite the requirement that all sport bodies submit membership statistics to the department of sport. Nor has the department set out detailed plans on how it intends to ensure equal opportunity in sport for women. <\/p>\n

Letter of the Law<\/h2>\n

The South African government has introduced laws to promote equality, representation and redress in sport. These include:<\/p>\n