Sex

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 08:05

Definition

Sex refers to either a man or a woman.

Latest News

Guardian (13 June 2013)
Call for government to act to reduce teenage girls' dropout rate
• Schools' focus on competition 'puts Olympic legacy at risk'
• 'Over half of girls still aren't happy with school sport'

Campaigners have called on the government to do more to reduce the "gender gap" between boys and girls when it comes to taking exercise, voicing fears that the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics will be squandered if schools continue to prioritise competition over health.
The success of female athletes at the London 2012 Games catalysed a debate over a lack of media coverage for women's sport and the alarming dropout rate among teenage girls.
The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation has argued that the problem is being exacerbated by a confused message from the Department for Education over school sport policy and a lack of measurement by Ofsted.

"The overarching point we want to make is that at a time when the nation's kids are inexorably getting fatter and fatter and the obesity crisis is getting more acute, and girls are half as active as boys when they leave school, over half of girls still aren't happy with school sport," said its chief executive, Sue Tibballs..............................................................................
View the full news item

RFU (12 June 2013)
First female RFU council member announced
TRACY Edmundson will become the first female to be elected as a Rugby Football Union Council Member when she becomes one of the two representatives for Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire next month............

Although Deborah Griffin has represented Women’s Rugby on the RFU Council since 2010, Edmundson is the first woman to be elected to serve one of the RFU Constituent Bodies........
View the full news item

StreetGames/ Us Girls reports (June 2013)
Women TRYSport week 15 - 22 June
Do girls do enough ‘sport/activity’ at school? Most don’t – so getting girls active with their mothers is a really good way to start the summer, showcase school sport/PE and perhaps introduce them to a new sport. You might even help continue our Olympic Legacy.
Women TRYSport Week – girls’ schools across the county will be encouraging Mothers & Daughters to get ACTIVE together during this post-exam week.
The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is co-ordinating their members along with NGBs and many schools are running specific activities during the week. School sports day offers a unique opportunity to work with NGBs and commercial providers in the community to TRY new sports.
Many schools are organising specific events for mothers to get ACTIVE with their daughters – some have set a challenge for the head to TRY a new sport! Can your school help?............
For more information on Womens TRYSport Week visit: www.wnset.co.uk
View the full news item

Chance to Shine (post 24 May 2013)
Girls on front foot to benefit from sales of book on history of women’s cricket
The Cricket Foundation is delighted to announce that Girls on the Front Foot is the beneficiary of a new book on the history of women’s cricket by Isabelle Duncan, 'Skirting The Boundary'.
‘Skirting the Boundary’ is a portrayal of the history of the women’s game starting in the late eighteenth century, when ladies made their first mark on cricket, to the highs and lows of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the contemporary superstars dominating world cricket.......

Delivered by the Cricket Foundation, Girls on the Front Foot is a fundraising initiative aiming to empower girls through cricket. The initiative will receive fifty percent of the profits from the book.
Through raising at least half a million pounds, Girls on the Front Foot aims to:

Ensure that girls across the country have opportunities to play cricket and to access the health and educational benefits of regular physical activity
Enable girls in disadvantaged communities to engage in regular, positive activity led by inspiring role models
Develop life skills and values for young girls that will help them to live purposeful lives and pursue successful careers, as well as identifying and developing girls’ cricketing talent.

View the full news item

FA (17 May 2013)
The FA has increased the mixed football age group to U15
A change to the age limit at which boys and girls can play football in the same teams has been unanimously voted in by The FA.
The resolution to increase the mixed football age limit from U14s to U15s was approved on Thursday by The FA shareholders at their AGM after The FA Board, FA Executive and FA Council agreed the proposal.

The change will come into effect for the forthcoming 2013-14 season and will enable The FA to conduct further research into mixed football at this older age group.

Kelly Simmons, Director of the National Game and Women’s Football at The FA, said: “This is really great news and we are delighted that The FA Shareholders fully supported the rule change to enable boys and girls to play in the same teams if they wish to do so up to the U15 age limit.
Source of information

Women on Boards - Workshop 'Getting Started: Realising your board potential’ taking place in: Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester
If you are thinking about getting a non-executive or trustee position and would like practical information, support and encouragement, come along to one of our ‘Getting Started: Realising your board potential’ workshops. We will be running them in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham over the next few weeks (as well as our monthly London workshops). For more information and to register see links below:

Bristol - 23 May, 11:00-14:30

Manchester - 6 June, 9:00-12:30

Edinburgh - 11 June, 9:00-12:30

Birmingham -13 June, 9:00-12:30

The workshops cover strategies for board and career development and are practical, strategic, fun and highly interactive. Topics covered include:

Managing your career, and how to include a NED position
About directorship; the role, duties and legal responsibilities of directors and trustees
Directorship opportunities; market intelligence on board roles and how to apply
Doing yourself justice when applying for board roles

Source of information

Women on Boards - News, Volume 11, 10 May 2013 - From strength to strength
In the last three months, WOB was delighted to welcome Aspen Insurance, Google, Wessex Water and BNY Mellon as new corporate subscribers. We also held Boardroom Conversations on NHS Trust Board opportunities and Charity Sector Boards.

StreetGames/Us Girls (May 2013)
Update paper: Us Girls - The programme increasing and sustaining women's sport participation in the most disadvantaged communities of England
Us Girls was initially a two year initiative to get 30,000 16-25 year old females more active by providing them with fitness and sport opportunities within their local communities. The Programme received £2.3 million of National Lottery investment from Sport England as part of its ‘Active Women’ campaign to tackle the gender gap in sport (2011-2013). The project focussed on over 50 specific disadvantaged areas across England involving a consortium of organisations led by StreetGames - the sports charity that brings sport to the doorstep of young people in disadvantaged communities across the UK. The programme has exceeded its target with over 33,000 young women taking part in Us Girls sessions.
Whilst the official funding period for Us Girls ended on 31st March 2013, the programme will continue and is being assimilated into the mainstream delivery of StreetGames core business. The growing programme is actively involved with over 100 delivery organisations including voluntary organisations, local authorities, leisure trusts, colleges and professional sports clubs. The number of projects involved in the Us Girls network has doubled since the start of the programme. Us Girls also works with and supports a range of national partners including NGBs..........
View the 2-page information paper – includes details of support resources

Sport England (10 May 2013)
Bury chosen for women’s sport town take-over
The town of Bury has been unveiled as the location for an intensive year-long sporting experiment to get more women and girls active and tackle the gender gap in sport.
Bury beat off competition from towns across England to secure up to £1.8 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England to rigorously test what works in changing the sporting habits of women and girls.

Despite a big increase in the number of women playing sport regularly over the past year, women are still much less likely to be active than men. As the pilot progresses, Sport England will work with partners across community sport to make sure lessons coming out of Bury are put into practice across the country.............................................................................
The activities will be highly visible, using every available space in the borough - from local parks to leisure centres – and will be backed by a major marketing campaign to encourage girls and women from the town to get moving. The sports on offer in Bury will evolve, based on feedback from local women and girls, but will fall into four broad areas:

Well-known sports offered in different forms or settings such as cardio tennis or school- gate rounders, which offers mums on the school run a chance to get active
•    Outdoor fitness such as bootcamps in parks or group runs
•    Dance and fitness sessions such as zumba or aerobics
•    Programmes to encourage older women to get involved, such as pilates.
View the full news item

Sport Wales (1 May 2013)
Vale Ladies & Girls Football Club
Vale Ladies & Girls Football Club, which launched in the summer of 2012 has already become one of the largest female only clubs in South Wales having created extensive links with local schools in all areas across the Vale of Glamorgan.

Currently with five teams and 85 players competing in the South Wales Girls League, the club is growing on a weekly basis as new players are getting inspired to take up the sport.

As well as running existing teams, the club has been very proactive in providing opportunities for girls to experience football through school programmes and festivals.

With sport development support from Sport Wales including funding from two Community Chest grants, the club has been able to position itself at the forefront of the female game in Wales.

Sport Wales Manager, Tom Overton said: "Although this is a relatively new addition to the community, the challenge to get more girls introduced to sport at a young age is something which has been embraced by Vale Ladies & Girls Football Club.

"We know from our research that women and girls are dropping out of sport, the situation is not unique to Wales but it's one that we at Sport Wales and our partners are determined to address.

"It is excellent to see that clubs such as Vale Ladies & Girls Football Club are increasing female membership, it's a great example to follow. It would be fantastic if these opportunities for girls became the norm in every community."

Since November 2012 the club has run the first 'Girls Football Primary School League' which brings 15 teams from 12 schools in the area together on a fortnightly basis to play regular friendly matches..............
View the full news item

FA (1 May 2013)
BBC Three to be home of the UEFA Women’s European Championship with additional coverage across TV, radio and online
With England representing the home nations, coverage of the Euros begins two days before a ball is kicked on 8 July, with a preview show on BBC Two and BBC Two HD. Once the tournament begins, there will be 16 games shown live on the BBC, with 14 games of those on BBC Three and two on BBC Two & BBC Two HD, including the final on 28 July.
BBC Three programmes will start at 7pm and include highlights of the earlier games before live coverage of the 7.30pm kick-off, so fans won’t have to miss out on any of the action. All of England’s matches will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5live or 5live Sports Extra. In addition to TV and radio coverage, the BBC Sport website has live text commentaries from every England game, along with the latest news, reports and on-demand video highlights. Every televised game will be streamed live across the BBC sport website, mobile, IPTV and the smartphone app.

National Coach Hope Powell said; “This summer’s coverage is really exciting and could be a tipping point for women’s football in England.

“For the first time ever England fans will have the opportunity to follow an entire UEFA women’s tournament and understand just how great the game is at international level. We are proud to be representing the country and delighted that fans will be able to watch our stars perform on the international stage.”

BBC Director of Sport Barbara Slater added: “We are delighted to provide cross-platform coverage of this summer’s European Championship as well as women’s football in general as the sport continues to grow in popularity. With the tournament being broadcast on BBC Three we want to build on the momentum of London 2012 by making women's football available to new audiences.”

Received by email - extracted from the FA’s Women’s Football Bulletin

Equality and Diversity Forum reports (29 April 2013)
Reports of progress: ‘Women on boards’
In 2010 government commissioned Lord Davies of Abersoch to find out what was preventing women becoming board members, and to develop a strategy to increase the number of women on the boards of listed companies.

His latest annual report shows that two years after the review there are more women in the boardrooms of the UK’s top companies. There is also a growing recognition that this benefits business, the economy and wider society.

As of 1 March 2013 the figures show within the FTSE 100:

Women now account for 17.3% of all directorships, up from 10.5 per cent in 2010
Women have accounted for 34% of all board appointments (45 out of 134 appointments)
There are currently 94 boards with female representation
There are now 192 women directors on FTSE 100 boards out of a total of 1,110

Cranfield School of Management’s Female FTSE Report published at the same time notes that progress with the Women on Boards agenda in the FTSE 100 has stalled over the last six months. It does note that the UK is on target to meet Lord Davies’ original report recommendation that the UK should have 25% women on FTSE 100 boards by 2015.

View details of Lord Davies’ review

View ‘Women on boards' April 2013

View the Cranfield School of Management report

Source of information

An event for your awareness...

Glasgow Life and sportscotland - Commonwealth Sports Development Conference - Sport & Empowering the Youth of the Commonwealth
12 - 13 August 2013, The Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Scotland
The Conference is delivered in partnership between Glasgow Life and sportscotland, with this year’s title confirmed as Sport & Empowering the Youth of the Commonwealth.

The primary focus is on Youth for the two-day event, which will bring together keynote speakers, workshops and panel debates and will include two key sub-programmes:

Disability Sport and Young People – This will explore how the Paralympic Movement engages with the Commonwealth and the respective roles the public, private and third sectors play in developing accessible and inclusive sport within the Commonwealth

Empowering Girls and Young Women through Sport – “What needs to change?” – This session will identify the barriers and the opportunities for the engagement, inclusion and empowerment of girls and young women through sport
The Conference will focus on issues and potential solutions, with engaging and thought-provoking speakers. Delegates will be actively encouraged to contribute and become involved over the course of the conference.

View more details

Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (24 April 2013)
Calling for male-only golf clubs to join the 21st century and stop damaging the sport
WSFF has called on male-only golf clubs to rethink their policy on membership ahead of the 2013 Ricoh British Women’s Open and the 2013 Open Championship. The charity has called on the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and Muirfield, who will play host two of the biggest golfing events in the calendar, to reverse their policy on female members, warning that men-only policies are damaging the reputation of the sport.
Currently, 15% of Scottish men play golf once a month, compared to just 2% of Scottish women.
Responding to comments made by Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal & Ancient, that golf clubs will not be asked to alter male-only membership policies, WSFF CEO, Sue Tibballs said:
"While it may be lawful for private member clubs to remain men-only, it is clearly damaging to the sport’s reputation that these two iconic clubs don’t allow female members. Not only is it ridiculously outdated, it sends out completely the wrong message to women and girls thinking about taking up the sport. A number of golfing bodies are working very hard to break down the traditional perceptions of the sport and encourage a new generation of female participants, and these clubs do nothing to help that cause.....
View the full news item

Inside the games reports (16 April 2013)
Men far outnumbered women at London 2012, report reveals
The London 2012 Olympics included 1,233 more male athletes and offered 30 more medal events for men than for women competitors, according to a new report by researchers at University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Toronto's Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

Nearly half of the sports, including :racewalking, canoe/kayak, rowing, shooting, boxing and wrestling, at last summer's Games allowed more men the chance to compete with no matching equivalent for female athletes, despite some calling it "The Women's Olympics".

In 11 of 26 sports, international rules more severely limited the number of female competitors who were allowed to compete.

In boxing, as many as 250 male boxers were allowed to compete but the number of female competitors was capped at 36, while in water polo up to 156 men could compete compared to 104 women and judo allowed for up to 221 male competitors and just 145 female competitors.....................
View the full news item

The report: The London 2012 Olympics: A Gender Equality Audit

New international journal launched this month – Journal of Sport for Development (April 2013)
The Journal of Sport for Development (JSFD) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focused on publishing research from the Sport for Development field.
JSFD’s mission is to examine, advance and disseminate evidence, best practices, and lessons learned from Sport for Development programmes and interventions.
Access Issue 1 and view more details

Of specific interest:
Sport and Gender
The sport and gender section features research and case studies related to interventions using sport to promote gender equality, challenge gender norms, and empower girls and women in disadvantaged settings.

The following articles have been published:
Hancock M, Lyras A, Ha JP. Sport for Development programmes for girls and women: a global assessment. Journal of Sport for Development. 2013; 1(1):15-24.

Rock K, Valle C, Grabman G. Physical inactivity among adolescents in Managua, Nicaragua: a cross-sectional study and legal analysis. Journal of Sport for Development. 2013; 1(1):48-59.

Note: JSFD is taking rolling submissions for its next issue, which is targeted for release in September 2013

Women on Boards - News, Volume 10, 12 April 2013 - Moving the Needle - view the latest enews
After listing board vacancies and encouraging women to consider applying for these roles for six months, WOB is delighted share a number of success stories, along with recent news and research around diversity in the boardroom.

Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (10 April 2013)
RBS Women's Six Nations Saved After Strong Campaign
The campaign against the proposals to split the RBS Women's Rugby Six Nations into a two tier tournament has been successful after rugby bosses on the Six Nations Council decided to retain the tournament's current structure.......
View the full news item

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Business Innovations and Skills and the Government Equalities Office (10 April 2013)
Women on Board two years on
Latest annual report published on the number of women represented in Britain's boardrooms.
In 2010 government commissioned Lord Davies of Abersoch to find out what was preventing women becoming board members, and to develop a strategy to increase the number of women on the boards of listed companies.

His latest annual report shows that two years after the review there are more women in the boardrooms of the UK’s top companies. There is also a growing recognition that this benefits business, the economy and wider society.

As of 1 March 2013 the figures show within the FTSE 100:

women now account for 17.3% of all directorships, up from 10.5 per cent in 2010
women have accounted for 34% of all board appointments (45 out of 134 appointments)
There are currently 94 boards with female representation
There are now 192 women directors on FTSE 100 boards out of a total of 1,110

StreetGames / Us Girls (April 2013)
Us Girls Alive Clubs
Us Girls is rolling out a pioneering new national scheme designed to improve the well-being of young women living in 15 selected areas of health need in England, thanks to funding from the Department of Health.
The ground-breaking initiative, Us Girls Alive, is a new strand of the existing Us Girls programme and will support young female volunteers to assist in the development of Us

Girls Alive clubs and the signposting to local physical activity programmes across the country until September 2015.
With £395,839 in funding from the Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund from the Department of Health, Us Girls Alive will promote volunteering as the key to health improvements for young women living in disadvantaged communities. As a direct result of the funding, 120 young female volunteers will create and manage thirty new Us Girls Alive clubs across England......................... .............................................................................
The scheme will run until 2015 and will be rolled out across fifteen locations, each containing two clubs: Liverpool, Manchester, Walsall, Wigan, Newcastle, Hastings, Birmingham, Chorley, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Stoke, Lincoln, Penwith, Hammersmith and Thanet.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the Us Girls Alive clubs please contact : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

View the full news item

British Cycling (25 March 2013)
One million more women on bikes by 2020
British Cycling today set out ambitious plans to get one million more women riding bikes by 2020 at an event hosted at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London.
The new strategy, supported by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, Sport England and British Cycling’s Principal Partner, Sky, covers getting more women into the sport at all levels from recreational riding and racing to volunteering and sitting on British Cycling’s Board......

The new target will be measured using British Cycling and Sky’s Annual Cycling Survey. Sport England’s Active People survey will be taken into account but, as that survey only measures recreational cycling in England, it won’t provide the full picture....
View the full details and access the strategy

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (22 March 2013)
Increase in sports participation and museums and galleries visits
Latest DCMS Taking Part Survey figures published, covering adults and children in England.
The number of women participating in sport and physical activity has increased by more than 1 million since London won the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2005, according to the latest figures from participation survey Taking Part.

And since 2010, there has been an increase of 1.2 million people who have participated in at least one 30 minute session per week of moderate intensity sport, 700,000 were women.

Taking Part, a survey conducted by DCMS, Arts Council England, English Heritage and Sport England on participation in sport, heritage and the arts, has released its figures covering January to December 2012 and boasts some of the highest participation figures since it began 8 years ago......
View the full news item and access the survey results

Legislation

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful to directly or indirectly discriminate against or harass someone because of their sex. This includes less favorable treatment of a woman because she is breastfeeding, except in relation to work. A man cannot claim direct discrimination by taking account of the special treatment afforded to women in connection with pregnancy and childbirth though because pregnancy and childbirth is specifically related to being a woman

For further information on the Equality Act 2010, visit the Legislation page of this Website.

Research

Other resources

Resources 2011 onwards:

The London 2012 Olympics: A Gender Equality Audit. Peter Donnelly, University of Toronto and Michele K. Donnelly, University of Southern California. Centre For Sport Policy Studies Research Reports. University of Toronto, March 2013 (76 pages)
The authors of the report praise the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the progress to date, particularly in the last 15 years, but they argue that the organisation can still do more.
Download a copy

Trophy Women? NGB Leadership Audit 2013. Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation, March 2013 (5 pages)
This is the fourth Trophy Women? report produced by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation in partnership with our Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport. The report, once again, highlights the worryingly low levels of female representation across national governing body (NGB) Boards and senior management teams.
Download a copy

Women: International Women’s Day 2013: Background & statistics. Standard Note 2936. House of Commons Library, 6 March 2013 (16 pages)
International Women’s Day is on 8 March. In 2013 the UN’s global theme is Time for action to end violence against women. Women are 51% of the population but only 22% of MPs; 23% of judges and 31% of local councillors. Around the world organisations, governments and women's groups choose different themes that reflect global and local gender issues and hundreds of events occur throughout March to mark International Women's day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women.
Download a copy

Sport Wales Public Appointments Case Study Report. Welsh Government, December 2012 (39 pages)
The Sport Wales Case Study project was established as part of the Welsh Government's commitment to increase the number of women in public appointments in Wales.
The aim of the study was to identify any changes made to the public appointments process for appointments to the Sport Wales Board in 2012 and to understand the reasons for these changes. The case study also aimed to determine if the changes to the process made a difference to the numbers of women who applied/who were appointed.

The Sport Wales Public Appointments Case Study Report outlines the context of the case study and the methodology employed. The report describes the Sport Wales public appointments process and concludes with the case study findings.
Download a copy

Summary of the report (6 pages)

This WSFF publication isn't dated... recently accessed on their website...

Trends in women’s participation in sport: A trends analysis of Active People Survey data 2007 – 2011 (AP2 – AP5). Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, in 2012? (43 pages)
Sport England have announced their intention to begin focussing on the problem of falling participation rates amongst younger age groups, in particular the 16-24 age-group.
WSFF welcome this focus, and strongly believe that falling participation amongst young adults, adolescents and children is a very serious problem and presents a significant challenge to the sector.
Analysis of the Active People survey, as well as other public data sources and other WSFF research show that the problem of falling participation amongst young people is a significantly bigger problem amongst girls than it is boys.
We've collated an analysis with some key findings.
Download a copy

Think, Act, Report: One Year On. Government Equalities Office, November 2012 (23 pages)
Think, Act, Report, the Government’s initiative for promoting gender equality in the workplace, forms part of this wider approach. It will help businesses recruit and develop the pipeline of talent to senior board positions. This is the first annual report since the initiative was launched in September 2011. Think, Act, Report is a flexible, voluntary approach that encourages businesses to think about gender equality, take steps to promote equality in their workplace and then share their progress publicly. It is open to any organisation but aimed in particular at medium to large private and voluntary sector organisations.
Download a copy

Women on Boards Report. House of Lords: European Union Committee, 5th Report of Session 2012–13, 9 November 2012 (60 pages)
The EU has long committed itself to promoting gender equality in the labour market at all levels, including the boardroom. Since 2010, this objective has been

pursued vigorously by the European Commission’s Vice-President, Viviane Reding, and by a number of business leaders, led in the United Kingdom by Lord

Davies of Abersoch. Their efforts have seen some positive change: in this country FTSE 100 companies are on target to have a quarter of board positions occupied

by women by 2015; and across the EU as a whole the proportion of women on boards has risen by 16 per cent since 2010, to just under 14 per cent of overall

board positions.

Though we welcome these positive changes, the absolute levels of female board membership remain far too low, and progress in some quarters is not nearly fast

enough. The situation is particularly bad for executive positions. The EU has pledged to come forward with proposals to redress this persistent imbalance. In this report we evaluate what action they could and should take, with a particular focus on the vexed question of legislative quotas for women on boards.
Download a copy

Football factsheet: Football is the most popular team sport for women. Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, October 2012 (6 pages)
All data are taken from the Active People Survey 6q2 (April 2011- April 12) and are based on those English adults (16 and over) who said they had taken part in the sport at least once in the last week (moderate intensity) unless stated otherwise. The participation numbers in this factsheet may vary slightly from figures published by Sport England who reconcile demographic breakdowns to the overall adult population (16 years and over) of England. There may also be slight differences due to rounding.
Download a copy

Active Women Year 1: Research summary. Sport England, October 2012 (single page fact sheet)
Active Women has engaged almost 30,000 women to date and is having a positive impact but reaching the target groups and retention are proving difficult.
Download a copy

Game Changer. The FA plan for women's football in England: 2013 - 2018. Football Association, October 2012 (24 pages)
The London 2012 Olympic Games demonstrated the quality of women’s football in spectacular fashion. The FA is committed to harnessing the unprecedented interest in the game and setting out a clear plan for taking the domestic game to the next level. At the same time, The FA will ensure the national teams remain competitive on a strengthening international stage.
The commitment is timely because on 8 July 2013 The FA will celebrate 20 years of running women’s football – and on 26 October 2013, 150 years of running the men’s game. A strong women’s game is a cornerstone of the next phase of The FA’s development.
The FA’s last 4 year plan is coming to an end and The FA Board has approved key new commitments. This document outlines how The FA will move the game forward over the next five years to consolidate women’s football status as the number one female team sport.
Download a copy

Women in Northern Ireland September 2012. Statistics Bulletin. Department of Finance and Personnel [Northern Ireland], 28 September 2012 (25 pages)
Summary: Statistics on women in Northern Ireland: labour market, childcare provision and earnings.
Download a copy

Fit for Girls evaluation final report. sportscotland, July 2012 (5 pages)
Fit for Girls is a joint programme between sportscotland and the Youth Sport Trust which promotes physical activity among girls aged 11-16, specifically those who are least likely to be active.
This report presents the key findings from an evaluation of Fit for Girls. The aim of the evaluation was to assess the impact of Fit for Girls on levels of participation in PE, physical activity and sport among secondary girls. The evaluation draws upon quantitative and qualitative research methods to provide a comprehensive picture of; approach and delivery at the school level, an understanding of girls perceptions, attitudes and enjoyment levels of PE, physical activity and sport and explores the participation rates for girls, low active and active girls.
Download a copy

Sportivate: Reaching young women. Case study. Sport England, in 2012 (4 pages)
Sportivate aims to engage young adults up to the age of twenty five in sport. This brings its own challenges and CSPs and their partners are working hard to address the current disparity between men’s and women’s participation in this age group - this case study highlights some successes.
Download a copy

The ideal sports club for women: Research from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Forum. Research conducted Verve, December 2011. Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, released April 2012 (32 pages)
In our research, the most common motivations women gave for participating in sport were fitness and fun rather than competition and skill acquisition. Women want to see sports clubs that are open and welcoming, that cater for a range of abilities, and that can offer them the flexibility they need to fit sport in to their increasingly complex and dynamic lives. This should not divert attention away from the importance of continuing to deliver talent pathways, but alongside this sports clubs have a significant opportunity to grow women’s participation in sport if they become more inclusive.
Download a copy

Note: This is referred to as 'Welcome change, Welcome women: The potential for sports clubs to engage the female market' - view the WSFF site. However, the front cover of the report is titled as listed here.

Sex and Power 2011. Equalities and Human Right Commission, April 2011 (18 pages)
This survey measures the number of women in positions of power and influence in Britain in 2010/11.
Download a copy

Gender Diversity on Boards: The Appointment Process and the Role of Executive Search Firms? Research report 85. Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Spring 2012 (98 pages)
The Commission has published new research looking at the process of recruiting and appointing women onto the boards of the FTSE 350 listed companies in the UK.
The research carried out by Cranfield School of Management is the first in-depth study into the appointment process to corporate boards and the role of head hunters. The report identifies good practice and suggests recommendations for further action by headhunters and chairmen.
In 2012, women account for almost 16% of directors of FTSE 100 Boards but more needs to be done to increase diversity and improve corporate effectiveness.
Download a copy

WSFF - Fit 4 Women 2012 Conferences - took place in London and Manchester, March 2012
Key output from the conferences , including workshop presentations, can be download from the WSFF site.
Access the information

Active People Survey 2009-10: women's sport participation. Fact sheet. Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, January
2011 (5 pages)
This factsheet highlights the key findings for women's sports participation from the 2009-10 Active People Survey.

• 2.76 million women (12.8%) take part in regular sport every week, this is a non-significant increase since 2008-09

• Swimming, gym and athletics are the most participanted in sports by women

• Women who have a household (hh) income of over £52,000 are more than three times as likely to be active as women with a hh income less than £15,600
Download a copy

Women in Coaching programme evaluation report. sportscotland, February 2012 (19 pages)
The Women in Coaching programme was a 3 year pilot with an aim to retain and increase the quality of female coaches in sport. The programme offered support (mentoring being one approach) to female coaches to help them achieve their potential. The final evaluation looked at this mentoring approach, and now at the end of the 3 years, sportscotland will use the recommendations to:

incorporate key learning into establishing a national approach to mentoring
build on the learning from the mentoring component to shape other national programmes such as Coaching Matters,Coach Inspire and Coach Aspire programmes (all CPD programmes that support performance coaches)
support coaches through newly established regional CPD programmes.

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Analysis and Review of International Working Group on Women and Sport Progress Reports 1994 – 2010. Anita White Foundation, University of Chichester, February 2012 (50 pages)
This report presents a content analysis and review of progress made worldwide in addressing issues related to women and sport. The materials analysed are those reported by the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) since the 1stIWG World Conference on Women and Sport held in Brighton, United Kingdom (UK) in 1994. The IWG has produced quadrennial progress reports that monitor and evaluate: action for advancing women and sport issues, developments, and
awareness. The four progress reports have been produced in sequence with the five IWG World Conferences and were seen as fulfilling one of the core roles of each IWG secretariat.

The four progress reports analysed were:

From Brighton to Windhoek – produced in 1998 and distributed after the 2nd IWG World Conference in Windhoek, Namibia. This progress report covered the four years following the 1st IWG World Conference.
From Windhoek to Montreal – produced in 2002 and distributed before the 3rd IWG World Conference in Montreal, Canada. This progress report covered the four years following the 2nd IWG World Conference.
From Montreal to Kumamoto – produced in 2006 and distributed before the 4th IWG World Conference in Kumamoto, Japan. This progress report covered the four years following the 3rd IWG World Conference.
From Kumamoto to Sydney – produced in 2010 and distributed before the 5th IWG World Conference in Sydney, Australia. This progress report covered the four years following the 4th IWG World Conference.

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Equality in Sport

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