Women in Football call for action to tackle alarming rise of sexism in game

‘Governance and systemic’ change needed in industry dogged by misogyny and lack of diversity, says organisation

The Football Association is working with Women in Football to tackle the alarming rise of sexism in the game.
A recent Women in Football survey found almost 90 per cent of women in the industry have experienced discrimination, while a Kick It Out report earlier this year found four in five female coaches had faced some form of sexism or misogyny.
Members of the Women in Football board met Debbie Hewitt, the FA chair, at the House of Lords on Monday. Yvonne Harrison, the group’s CEO, told Telegraph Sport how “governance and systemic” change was needed, and explained that the organisation is working with the FA and other stakeholders.
Harrison said: “We can talk anecdotally about women experiencing discrimination in football all the time, but when you see that 89 per cent of women who work in the industry who responded to our survey have experienced that, then that’s not great.
“And when you then layer in the fact that, of the women reporting discrimination, 60 per cent say that no action was taken and 16 per cent said they were not even listened to, then that creates a very different conversation which is a governance and a systemic conversation.
“You can have policies and processes in place, but if you don’t embed them, if you don’t live them, if people don’t feel like they can trust those policies, then guess what… things are not going to change.”
The organisation wants anti-discrimination policies with strong reporting pathways to combat abuse and harassment. It also hopes to see new safeguarding measures brought in to ensure a duty of care for women in football and to ensure players’ voices are heard.
Harrison added: “We’ve got to listen to the women who are playing and working in the game. We’ve got to embrace what they’re saying and don’t make them feel like they can’t actually speak out.”
Women In Football is also campaigning for the inclusion of policies that promote diversity and inclusion in the Government’s new Football Governance Bill, which will lead to the creation of an Independent Football Regulator (IFR).
It pointed to just 10 per cent of Premier League board members being women, and just five per cent in the Championship.
Harrison said: “If we have more diverse boardrooms and more gender representation, then the game will be better for everyone.
“It’s not just going to be better for women, it will be better for everyone, because you’ll get better products.”
The group believes the Bill is an opportunity to address a lack of progress around diversity targets and equality within English football. It also wants to see progress made on the international stage and is campaigning for an initial goal of 30 per cent female representation in national association leadership bodies.
“It’s about normalising good representation, good governance, strong diversity,” Harrison added.
“These things will create better organisations, which ultimately are more profitable for people or have a greater impact if you’re a community organisation.”
Women in Football (WIF) is the leading organisation focused on supporting and championing gender equality within the game. For more information, go to www.womeninfootball.co.uk.