(Pontypridd) (Lab):...The UK Government have a
responsibility to engage proactively with governing bodies to
support women and to bring an end this abuse. I would be interested
to know how many meetings the Minister has had with governing
bodies to discuss misogyny in sport. What tests has his Department
put in place to hold these institutions to account, particularly
when there is no governing body to hold to account, as with
wrestling? Who should these young women turn to? We saw this
problem with British Gymnastics. It is welcome that UK Sport
and Sport England are
commissioning the Whyte review into British Gymnastics, but the UK
Government must take the lead...
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture,
Media and Sport ():...All of that is helping to inspire more women and
girls to become active. The latest data from Sport
England’s Active Life survey in April showed that before
covid-19 there were more than 210,000 active women compared with
the previous year. We want to continue to encourage more women and
girls to get active and build on the momentum generated by
initiatives such as Sport England’s “This Girl
Can” campaign, which launched its latest TV advert just this week.
The latest phase of the campaign recognises that, for many people,
the pandemic has added to the physical, financial and time barriers
to getting active. The campaign uses real-life stories to celebrate
the inventive ways in which many women have stayed active during
the pandemic and helped to inspire many others.
I am pleased to say that more women are working in the sector
than ever before. Sport England’s annual survey
of diversity in sport governance, published in September last
year, showed that women now make up an average of 40% of board
members across Sport England and UK Sport-funded
bodies. There is still progress to be made, but that is quite a
remarkable achievement, and the Government continue to work with
sports and sport bodies to ensure that opportunities to progress
are open to all...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
