A new survey from global children and girls’ rights charity Plan International UK has revealed that over a third of girls and young women aged 14-21 always or sometimes feel unwelcome when watching sports, whether on TV with others or in a live crowd.
While this is disappointing in itself, a large majority of respondents have said that for the Euros this weekend, they’ll be watching it alone as they otherwise will feel unwelcome and out of place.
The sports events girls were most likely to say they will avoid watching with others this year are:
- Euros (38%)
- Olympic Games (19%)
- Wimbledon (15%)
- British Grand Prix (13%)
- Cricket Test series (12%)
Even schools can have unwelcoming environments during football matches
Poppy, aged 14, from South Wales, said in the survey data that even in school, she finds it uncomfortable to watch sports. She explained that when Wales entered the World Cup, her school put on a football match to celebrate. Sadly, it was an intimidating experience for her.
She said: “Throughout the match there were numerous violent and sexist comments made predominantly by the male students in my year.
“These made me feel honestly scared and incredibly on edge, since then I’ve always been really anxious when watching sports in a group, mainly scared things would go wrong.”
This correlates with data from the National Centre For Domestic Violence which revealed that reported incidents of domestic violence increased by 26% if England plays, 38% if England loses and 11% the next day, win or lose.
Kathleen Spencer Chapman, Director of Influencing and External Affairs at Plan International UK, said: “These findings are both shocking and unacceptable. It’s deeply concerning that girls and women still face barriers to equal engagement and participation in sports, with many avoiding even the simple joy of watching a football match because they’ve been made to feel like they don’t belong.
“Every girl deserves an inclusive environment where they feel welcome and empowered to enjoy sporting events if they want to.”