Select Committee · Women and Equalities Committee

Sexism and inequalities in sport

Status: Closed Opened: 2 May 2023 Closed: 28 May 2024 12 recommendations 7 conclusions 1 report

Following earlier sessions on football, timed to coincide with the 2022 men’s World Cup, the Women and Equalities Committee is examining sexism and inequality in sport more widely. A key focus will be on how girls’ and women’s health and physiology – body image, injuries and sports-related illnesses, periods, pregnancy and maternity, and perimenopause and …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Third Report - Health barriers for girls and women in sport	HC 130	5 Mar 2024	19	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items

13 Recommendation Third Report - Health barriers for girl… Accepted in Part

Establish a taskforce to develop strategy addressing sportswomen's health, kit, and research representation.

We recommend the DCMS and DfE establish a taskforce, including UK Sport, the UK Sports Institute, women’s health and fitness experts including The Well HQ, sport and exercise research institutes, and the UK divisions of leading sportswear and sporting goods brands, to develop a long-term strategy to tackle sportswomen’s health …

Government response. The government accepts the recommendation, stating it will use the existing National Physical Activity Taskforce and the recently established Board of Women’s Sport to tackle sportswomen's health and physiology, noting that suitable kit design will be part of future discussions.

Government Equalities Office

18 Recommendation Third Report - Health barriers for girl… Accepted in Part

Urge Government to actively support best practices for pregnancy and maternity in sport.

A long-overdue culture change is taking shape in sport around pregnancy and maternity. While policies and practices being adopted in funded Olympic and Paralympic sports and, to a lesser extent, in some professional women’s sports are welcome, there is still a long road to travel, both in maternity pay and …

Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, noting that employment rights for maternity and pay are determined by employment status and that sportswomen who are employees are entitled to statutory maternity leave and pay. It states that maternity leave and pay …

Government Equalities Office

19 Recommendation Third Report - Health barriers for girl… Accepted in Part

Establish a permanent working group on best practice in pregnancy and maternity policy in sport.

We recommend the DCMS, UK Sport, Sport England and the sports’ national governing bodies establish a permanent working group on best practice in pregnancy and maternity policy, including maternity leave and pay and wider policies to support pregnant sportswomen and returning mothers. This working group must consider a road map …

Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, outlining existing statutory maternity rights and noting that the Board of Women's Sport, with UK Sport and Sport England, will include maternity leave and pay in its player welfare discussions.

Government Equalities Office

Oral evidence sessions

3 sessions

Date	Witnesses
22 Nov 2023	Dame Katherine Grainger DBE · UK Sport, Dr Craig Ranson · UK Sports Institute, Emily Handyside · UK Coaching, Jeanette Bain-Burnett · Sport England	View ↗
6 Sep 2023	Jo Ward · Lawn Tennis Association, Kelly Gordon · England Netball, Nick Pink · England Hockey	View ↗
14 Jun 2023	Baz Moffat · The Well HQ, Dr Louise Newson · The Menopause Charity, Eboni Usoro-Brown, Janet Birkmyre, Kate Seary · Kyniska Advocacy, Lisa West · Women in Sport, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Shaunagh Brown	View ↗

Correspondence

17 letters

Date	Direction	Title
24 Apr 2024	—	Correspondence with Frasers Group, relating to the categorisation of football b…
21 Mar 2024	—	Correspondence to Group CEO, Frasers Group PLC regarding barriers faced by wome…
10 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence from Sport England, relating to Sexism and inequalities in sport…
10 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence from Minister for Schools, relating to health and physiology- re…
10 Jan 2024	—	Sport integrity statistics received from UK Sport, December 2023
10 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence from UK Sports Institute, relating to Sexism and inequalities in…
13 Dec 2023	—	Correspondence from Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, relating to…
6 Dec 2023	—	Correspondence from the Youth Sport Trust relating to the Sexism and inequaliti…
29 Nov 2023	—	Correspondence from the Chair to the Minister for Schools, relating to Health a…
29 Nov 2023	—	Correspondence from the Chair to the Minister for Women's health Strategy and M…
8 Nov 2023	—	Correspondence from Nike, relating to football boots
8 Nov 2023	—	Correspondence from Sports Direct, relating to football boots
8 Nov 2023	—	Correspondence from the FA Director of Women's Football, The Football Associati…
25 Oct 2023	—	Correspondence from the Chief Executive Officer Swim England, relating to the h…
25 Oct 2023	—	Correspondence to Chief Executive Officer Swim England, relating to the health …
7 Aug 2023	—	Responses from Sports Executives on design and manufacture of football boots
5 Jul 2023	To cttee	Letter from the Chair to Sport Executives on the design and manufacturing of fo…