Introduction

Sport provides a sphere in which women can renegotiate concepts of femininity and masculinity, challenge stereotypes that label women as weak and inferior, and demonstrate to their communities what they are capable of achieving. Sport builds confidence and decision-making skills. It encourages self-discipline and provides a sense of accomplishment. As such, promoting girls and women’s involvement in sport is an important tool for gender equality and women’s empowerment and, more broadly, for development and social change.

Achievements on gender equality from the previous Olympics in London have proved that sports is a weapon to conquer gender inequality promoting women’s empowerment. This was evident through three milestone achievements in London, namely: a) the Games had a higher percentage of women athletes compared to previous Summer Olympics; b) there were women competitors in all sporting disciplines; and c) there were no longer any countries preventing women from participating in the Olympics. Interesting to note is that, in London, women were represented in all participating national teams for the first time, making up a record of 45% of all athletes. In Atlanta, sixteen years ago, 26 countries did not send any women at all, according to a website on Muslim Women in Sport. Olympic value-based education is given more credit for such results through its mandate of promoting gender equality and women empowerment.

The Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2013) defines gender equity as a

process of attaining fairness and justice between women and men to ensure impartiality. In the context of this lecture, gender equity involves proportional representation of women and men in sports; hence the number of women and men should transparently represent distribution in the general population. In other words, the relations of women and men should be congruent to the demographic pattern of people within a particular society. Equal representation in participating in all sporting activities; additionally, the leadership and administration role is also important in sport.

Sport as a tool for gender equality and empowerment

Access to sport is considered as an essential element in attaining rights and freedoms set out in several international human rights documents including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Beijing Platform for Action referred to sport and physical education as a mechanism to develop non-discriminatory education and training; to strengthen preventive programs that promote women’s health and to eliminate discrimination against girls in education, skills development and training. There is evidence that sport can help to enhance girls’ and women’s health and well-being, foster self-esteem and empowerment, facilitate social inclusion and integration, challenge gender norms, and provide opportunities for leadership and achievement.

According to Huggins (2007) in most cultures, sport has traditionally been divided along gendered lines, often reflecting the values and stereotypes underlying society’s notions of masculinity and femininity. Traditional “male sports” often emphasized brute strength, aggression, or mimic war-like behaviour; while “women’s sports”, such as dance, valued the properties of grace, delicacy and, in many contexts, mimicked or expressed forms of sexuality. Women and men who showed no interest or skill for these sports were considered less feminine or masculine, and crossing these gender lines was seen as a defiance of social norms.

As more women and girls come forward to defy prohibitions which prevent them from playing particular sports, they are at the same time challenging existing gender roles and patriarchal structures. Each time a girl has the courage to join a boys’ football game or, better yet, starts an all-girls football team, she demonstrates to the boys in her community that she is tough and can compete on an equal level, challenging gendered norms which view women as fragile or inferior. In societies where women’s roles are predominantly confined to the domestic sphere, and where they are not expected or permitted to participate in public life, participation in sport can challenge these barriers and enable women to assume new roles within their communities. Thus, sports provide an environment in which gender norms, and accepted conceptions of masculinity and femininity, can be renegotiated. In sport, values such as aggressiveness and competition are valued, with sport fields being an acceptable territory in which women can demonstrate these qualities. As these values become more entrenched, gendered stereotypes are slowly changed, and women who exhibit these qualities become valued by society (Sever: 2005).

Right to Play, a global organisation which advocates the right of every child to sport and leisure activities, has shown how creating opportunities for girls to participate in sports can challenge these gender norms in a way which has a lasting impact on gender roles. It has set up sports activities for girls, with overwhelming success in some countries in Africa. The girls benefit from participation in sports as well as from the leadership of female coaches, who have become widely respected role models within the camp community (Koss: 2000).

On an individual level, participation in sport empowers girls, giving them confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, which they carry with them for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, research has shown that, in a highly masculinised work environment, team sports play a role in socializing children to work within certain organisational structures, preparing them for their entry into the workforce. Without accepting that these environments should, or must, be the norm, sports can help girls to gain skills which will enable them to compete on a more equal footing when they join the workforce, particularly if they pursue hierarchically structured corporate careers. Competitive sports can help players learn to exude an illusion of confidence, even when afraid or insecure, and to understand that making mistakes and learning from them is “part of the game”. Children gain confidence in their ability to take on unknown roles or tasks, and become more comfortable with “learning by doing”.

Sport teaches teamwork skills such as loyalty to one’s teammates, deference to a coach’s decisions, and the fact that teams are chosen based on relative skills, not on the basis of popularity or personality. Participants learn that pressure, deadlines and competition can be fun, and are more prepared when they encounter these forces in a professional environment. All of these skill sets are highly valued in the workplace, and by fostering these values in girls from a young age, they become better prepared to interact and compete with their male colleagues.

Fostering opportunities for women’s participation in sports is not just about advocating for the right of women to play. It entails identifying social and economic barriers to women and girl’s participation in sports, and designing programs which will be particularly relevant and meaningful to female participants. Restrictions on girls and women’s leisure time include physical risks related to participation which are specific to girls, such as danger associated with sports events that keep girls after dark. Girls also experience poverty-related barriers, such as lack of appropriate equipment, clothing or sanitary items. These serve as unique barriers to girls participation in sporting activities.

According to Darleci (2015) through engaging in sport and living its values, women and girls can develop leadership skills, overcome bias, improve their health and become empowered. The IOC (2015) ascertained that there is evidence that sport can help to enhance girls’ and women’s health and well-being, foster self-esteem and empowerment, facilitate social inclusion and integration, challenge gender norms, and provide opportunities for leadership and achievement. In particular, it can:

• improve physical and mental health;

• create opportunities for social interaction and friendship;

• increase girls’ and women’s self-confidence, and provide them with a sense of control over their bodies and their lives, encouraging them to delay sexual activity and reducing levels of teen pregnancy;

• provide incentives and support for girls to enrol in school, enhance school attendance and academic performance;

• help girls and women acquire transferable life-skills leading to increased employability;

• empower girls and women with disabilities to acquire health information, skills, social networks, and leadership experience; and

• help develop skills in management, negotiation and decision-making that empower women and girls to become leaders in the workplace, in the home and in all areas of community life; a survey of executive women found that 80% played sports in their youth; 69 % said sport contributed to their professional success.

In many countries, it has been recognised that sport can be a force which augments women’s voices, tears down gender barriers and discrimination. According to Meyer (2008), women in sport defy the fallacy that they are weak and incapable. Every time they clear a hurdle or kick a ball, demonstrating not only physical strength, but also leadership and strategic thinking, they take a step towards gender equality. There is good evidence that participation in sports can help break-down gender stereotypes, improve girls’ and women’s self-esteem and contribute to the development of leadership skills.

In Zimbabwe the participation of women in sports has increased from the previous years. There are 58 national sport federations of which 30 are affiliated to the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, with four of these having women as Presidents of the Associations. At the ANOCA Youth Games in 2014, 74 athletes took part in eleven sport codes, namely athletics, rowing, basketball, triathlon, rugby sevens, netball, golf, judo, karate, tennis and swimming. A gender-balance of about 51% girls and 49% boys was achieved. At the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, 10 athletes participated with a boy and girl competing in swimming, triathlon, and rowing, two girls and a boy in athletics, and one girl in the equestrian event, giving a 60% female representation.

Zimbabwean women have ventured into the sporting arena in tremendous ways. Today women athletes have distinguished themselves not only locally but also at the international level. The number of Olympic Sport disciplines for women has also increased, with women’s boxing finally being accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for 2012. Munyawiri (2016) ascertains that Olympic values-based education has been successful in addressing gender inequality and women empowerment throughout Africa. It is not many years ago that sport was dominated by men. Armed with dedication and humility complemented by an impetus for success, African women have since liberated themselves from their stationery role played in the predominantly patriarchal society, where they were mostly confined to the kitchen.

Today women athletes have distinguished themselves not only locally but also on the international level. The legendary Kirsty Coventry, dubbed “the golden girl”, has continued to fly the national flag high through her continued excellence in the pool. The 2004 Athens Olympic Games marked the beginning of a record-breaking swimming career for Kirsty Coventry. Coventry put Zimbabwe on the global sports map after scooping a gold, silver and bronze medal in Greece. Kirsty has again made it and qualified for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. In 2013 she visited ten provinces in Zimbabwe with the objective of stirring school children and inspiring the youth to be their own heroes. During this tour “the golden girl” came to the realisation that many lives were lost every year in the country as a result of drowning. Conscious of that, she has since started an academy to nurture swimming talent across the country. The Kirsty Coventry Academy founded in 2015 also seeks to reduce the drowning problem in the country.

Sports such as boxing, previously viewed as a domain for men, have been demystified by ladies such as Monalisa Sibanda. The Zimbabwean top female boxer made headlines in 2005 after she twice beat Zambian champion Easter Sibanda. The Zimbabwe Under 21 female hockey team qualified for the Women Junior Hockey World Cup in Santiago, Chile. Zimbabwe’s last qualification was in 2005 at a World Cup that was incidentally held in Santiago. The senior hockey team’s major victory was in 1980 at the Olympics in Moscow when it won the gold medal. The Zimbabwe Women Soccer team has for the first time qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games. Zimbabwe has also qualified for the ICC Women’s World T20 Global Qualifier Tournament scheduled for West Indies in 2018, after winning the Africa Region Qualifier Tournament. All these achievements can be attributed mostly to the Olympic values-based education.

Women in leadership

Although the situation is improving on the field of play and in terms of access to sporting and recreational activities, the gap is still very wide in leadership and decision-making roles. In sports organisations, there remain obstacles that hinder access to positions of responsibility and influence. In 1996, the IOC set out to encourage NOCs, IFs, and sports bodies belonging to the Olympic Movement to establish as a goal that at least 20% of the positions in all their decision-making structures (in particular, the executive and legislative bodies) be held by women. The policy has largely been successful, thanks to the various programs that have been put in place to support women with further knowledge of issues to build on their existing capacity, enhance the understanding of NOCs in general and increase the buy-in by the IFs. As a result, the number of female executive board members being Presidents, vice-Presidents and secretaries general in NOCs is the highest ever. The major concern has, however, been a perceived lack of adequate representation of women in positions of leadership as well as on the coaching and technical fronts. With the growing need for more involvement of women in sport, ZOC hosted a women and sport leadership conference where female administrators participated. The seminar aimed to strengthen the capacities of a targeted group of women with a view to creating a strong base of women leaders in sport.

The executive director of Zimbabwe Business Council on AIDS, David Mutambara, pointed out that challenges faced by women leads to governance in sport and emphasised the importance of having a governance culture in the different organisations and associations involved in sport. The challenges for African women are cultural and social beliefs that hinder their participation in sport as well as the economic challenges, lack of support, exposure and resources. There is, however, the need for building the capacity of women so that they can be effective in their leadership roles (Griffin: 1998).

The Olympic values-based education has contributed to promoting gender equality and women empowerment in Africa. According to the International Olympic Committee statistics, Africa has improved among the leading continents in terms of women representation in National Olympic Committees especially the Sub-Saharan region. However, there is need now to focus on the quality of leaders since Africa is progressing on a faster pace in recognising women leaders in sport. Women are being empowered to occupy leadership positions that used to be occupied by men. Although we have not reached the expected number of women leaders in sport in the continent, the progress has been significant so far.

Zimbabwe has built a culture of uplifting women into decision-making positions, thus promoting gender equality and women empowerment. Zimbabwe’s top female rower, a coach, Rachel Davis Thornycroft, was the only female coach for rowing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Zimbabwe Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Anna Mguni is the first woman to hold that position in Zimbabwe and she is also a member of the IOC Athlete’s Entourage Commission. Letitia Chipandu, who is the President of the Zimbabwe Netball Association is also the Vice-President of African Netball Association and I am the first female Director of Sport in the Ministry of Sport and Recreation in Zimbabwe having served as the Chairperson of the Africa Union Sport Council Region 5 Women and Sport Committee for ten years. Just but to name a few. A number of workshops are being held in order to enhance leadership and to promote gender equality in all sport circles.

How gender inequalities can be addressed

Binder (2012) ascertains that the Olympic values-based education opens a way to start the discussion of why gender differences were introduced in sports in the first place, what differences remain, how those differences compare across sports, why they remain, and how they may be resolved. In addition, they argue that it is crucial for athletes and former athletes to be involved in these discussions as they are the only experts who really matter.

Similar amounts of events and medal opportunities should be created for men and women in order to achieve greater gender equality, and the authors call on the IOC to realise this gender equality by the earliest opportunity.

Despite women’s progress, more must be done to increase their participation in Olympic and Paralympic sports and to increase the number of eligible women’s events. It is also important to increase women’s participation in sporting activities such as boxing. Boxing trainers, the Olympics, sports agents, as well as those who are in boxing themselves should target females who are interested in the sport as well as the audience to make them more aware of the inequalities they face in order to raise awareness and someday make boxing equal for both males and females.

In order to ensure that gender equality and women empowerment is achieved, attention in advocating for equality and empowerment in sports for African women is needed. Girls and women around the world need inspirational women athletes, technical officials and administrators. Empowering women is much about expanding women’s imagination of what they can do as it is about tackling the barriers that they experience in their everyday lives. These role models of successful women competing in international sports competitions can give women that permission to dream.

Conclusion

The contribution of Olympic values-based education in promoting gender equality and women empowerment has been evident in Zimbabwe. There are more women participating in sports now and it is evident in this year’s Olympics that among other women participants from Africa, there are two teams, South Africa and Zimbabwe, who are present in the Olympics. However, there are still issues that need attention in order to promote equality. Funding of women sports, media contribution to women sports and women still needing to be educated so that they do not quickly hit a ceiling in their career path. Patriarchy is still a drawback in African culture regardless of all the efforts being undertaken.

With self-confidence, leadership and teamwork skills, all of which are taught through Olympic values, girls are better equipped to challenge social norms. The value of challenging these norms has been recognised by governments and communities. However, the real testimonies must come from the girls them- selves. Each woman who excels in sport, either as an athlete or as an administrator, subscribes a significant sign that a barrier has been broken.

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