Going beyond superficial slogans, guaranteeing salaries at the same level as men, creating equal management structures: these and much more are needed to grow the world of Italian women’s sports.
Reducing the gap: some recommendations
Let’s start with the basics. What are the most important points to focus on to create a radical change in Italian women’s sport in terms of equality and reducing the gap between it and men’s sport? First of all, we must focus on an important concept, namely the pedagogical importance of sports. In gyms, on football, basketball and rugby fields, the Italian women of tomorrow are growing and therefore we must make room for them. Important resources for the growth of the women’s sports world In Italy it is enough.
In this sense, it is impossible not to start from the Right to Sports. Article 33 of our Constitution came into force in September 2023. The Right to Sport includes a real commitment To ensure that everyone, regardless of gender, age and circumstances, has the opportunity to access facilities, events and sports activities throughout the country by national institutions.
Gender gap in men’s and women’s sports
Although the right to sports may seem like a meaningless slogan at first glance, it is a crucial point in terms of health. Creating equality between men’s and women’s sportsReducing the gender gap: Sport should be free, fair and accessible to all.
Directly linked to both the issue of sports rights and the growth of the Italian women’s sports movement is the issue of infrastructure. Today in Italy there is a huge gap on the infrastructure front between the northern and southern regions, and this distance is also reflected in the number of employees. women’s participation in sports is significantly lower in the South. We need to roll up our sleeves concretely on this issue and work hard to create an infrastructure park that will make a significant contribution to the growth of women’s sports.
There is also an economic element; There is an urgency to allocate much more significant funding to sport. Specifically, sports policy should identify areas in the country where the gender gap in sports participation is widest and allocate more resources to sports in this area. What you need to do in these areas aggressive interventionbuilding structures, bringing in proposals, and bringing together a range of initiatives that provide growth and support.
Intervention in provinces and small towns is decisive because that is where sports turns into culture and education. It is in the most distant and difficult realities that sports practices make a difference and that we can reduce it by working on the foundations of the difference. At least at a high level in terms of participation, We have reached almost full equality between male and female athletes.
In the world of non-competitive sports, the reality is completely different: women do much less exercise and even when they do, they remain far ahead of men. At this point, it is strategic to find gendered solutions and reduce the gap.
What is being done anyway?
Project 100 experts for sportsPavia Observatory and Gi.U.Li.A. This study, initiated by the association together with the Bracco Foundation and with the support of the European Commission Representation in Italy, is a very concrete example of what can be done today to reduce gender discrimination. The gap in sports is contributing to its growth. This is a database that allows sports organizations that need it to rely on the profiles of four hundred and fifty people. women with basic professional skills for the world of sports: science, history, politics, communication.
In fact, one of the most important factors to consider when talking about women’s sport is the still very low level of media coverage in the Italian media. The Global Media Monitoring Project finds that: Only 3% of Italian sports information Dedicated to women’s sports. In Italian news, only 1.7% of reports were about women’s sports, compared to 44% about football. Therefore, it is normal to think that a certain male dictatorship in sports is also due to the huge space given to it in terms of media, an element that drives fans to be interested in sports almost no matter what.
And then there’s the problem of managers. The rate of women coaching in football is around 20% of the total, and they must necessarily be more. They still remain in football and are below 13% at management level: there is professionalism here too, you just have to go and look for it and work to reduce the gender gap.
