Recommendations & Conclusions
4 items
4
Recommendation
Third Report - Health barriers for girl…
Acknowledged
The evidence on girls’ anxieties around PE kit is overwhelming. We recommend the Department for Education and National Physical Activity Taskforce review guidance for schools on school PE kit, with the aim of ensuring all schools permit the widest possible choice for girls. That guidance should include advice to schools …
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The evidence on girls’ anxieties around PE kit is overwhelming. We recommend the Department for Education and National Physical Activity Taskforce review guidance for schools on school PE kit, with the aim of ensuring all schools permit the widest possible choice for girls. That guidance should include advice to schools on use of sports bras by girls taking part in PE and school sports.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepted the recommendation but provided a vague commitment, describing the general activities of the National Physical Activity Taskforce and the Board of Women's Sport, without outlining specific actions or timelines for reviewing PE kit guidance for schools to ensure wider choice for girls …
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Government Equalities Office
10
Conclusion
Third Report - Health barriers for girl…
Acknowledged
There has been a slow and disparate response to disproportionately high rates of ACL injury in women’s football. We have no doubt that a health issue of similar magnitude affecting elite male footballers would have received a faster, more thorough, and better coordinated response. We agree with Karen Carney that …
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There has been a slow and disparate response to disproportionately high rates of ACL injury in women’s football. We have no doubt that a health issue of similar magnitude affecting elite male footballers would have received a faster, more thorough, and better coordinated response. We agree with Karen Carney that the 40 Health barriers for girls and women in sport issue is indicative of systemic gender inequality in sports and exercise research, which is still overwhelmingly conducted by men, looking at issues affecting men.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the conclusion, stating it intends to work with the sector on integrity challenges, has run a call for evidence on how issues are dealt with, and will set out the results and next steps 'in due course'.
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Government Equalities Office
12
Conclusion
Third Report - Health barriers for girl…
Acknowledged
It is symptomatic of gender inequality and sexism in the sports sector that the first football boot in the world designed around female feet came to the market less than four years ago. Since then, limited progress has been made by the largest sports brands, who between them have produced …
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It is symptomatic of gender inequality and sexism in the sports sector that the first football boot in the world designed around female feet came to the market less than four years ago. Since then, limited progress has been made by the largest sports brands, who between them have produced only a handful of football boots designed specifically for the needs of girls and women. Some of those that are available are at a price many people cannot afford. It is also disappointing that Sports Direct, the UK’s largest sports retailer, appears unwilling to promote football boots to women and girls in store and does not stock a wide a range of boots designed specifically for women. Girls and women at all levels of sport deserve kit and equipment properly researched and designed for their health, wellbeing, and performance needs. At a time of soaring interest in women’s sport, the sector must do better. The aim must be to provide an equal range of sports kit and equipment designed to meet girls’ and women’s needs, at a comparable range of price points, as is available to boys and men.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the implicit recommendation, stating that the National Physical Activity Taskforce and the Board of Women’s Sport will address issues regarding female-specific kit, and that this will form part of future discussions.
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Government Equalities Office
16
Conclusion
Third Report - Health barriers for girl…
Acknowledged
Public weighing and body-shaming of girls and young women is wholly unacceptable. That this should have occurred in a sports environment, in which girls already face barriers to participation, is deplorable. Swim England must restore trust in swimming’s coaching practices and culture, and Sport England must oversee the change process …
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Public weighing and body-shaming of girls and young women is wholly unacceptable. That this should have occurred in a sports environment, in which girls already face barriers to participation, is deplorable. Swim England must restore trust in swimming’s coaching practices and culture, and Sport England must oversee the change process until this is achieved. Sport England must, in response to this Report in no later than two months, update us on its assessment of Swim England’s response to the issues and the steps it is taking to oversee the situation.
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Government response AI summary
The government generally agrees with the report's aims and highlights existing commitments and targets for women's and girls' participation in sport. However, it does not specifically address the call for Sport England to oversee Swim England or provide an update within two months.
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Government Equalities Office