Organised by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) on the occasion of International Women’s Day
Theme
The second edition of the Breakfast Roundtable on Women in Sport focused on combating gender-based violence in sport.
During the first part of the event, international experts and guests delivered presentations about initiatives in place to combat gender-based violence and a number of speakers shared their lived experience in this area. An informal coffee table discussion followed, bringing together panellists, including academics, who addressed the steps that could be taken to tackle this issue.
Gender equality has been one of the central themes of the Council of Europe’s work in the field of sport for over a decade. In 2015, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) was instrumental in the preparation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on gender mainstreaming in sport. The Council of Europe has been promoting a number of initiatives, seeking to contribute to improving gender equality in sport, and these efforts are firmly enshrined in the Council of Europe’s revised European Sports Charter.
From March 2018 to October 2019, the European Union and the Council of Europe ran a joint project called “ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport”, aiming to provide support to public authorities and sport organisations in the development and implementation of policies and programmes addressing gender inequalities in sport as well as in adoption of a gender mainstreaming strategy. As part of the project, EPAS assessed the state of play regarding gender equality in 17 countries across 6 indicators in the following areas: leadership, coaching, participation (from grassroots to elite sport), gender-based violence, media/communication and gender mainstreaming, subsequently producing a best practice toolkit for gender equality in sport and setting up an online library amongst other outcomes.
From March 2023 to March 2025, the Council of Europe’s Sport Division will advance on this crucial work through the “All in Plus” European Union - Council of Europe joint project. To further enhance the findings of the first data collection campaign, the project will fine-tune the data indicators and expand the list of participating countries. All In Plus will have a specific focus on issues linked to representation of women in sport but will also raise awareness about gender-based violence in sport and how to tackle it, drawing upon the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The Sport Division will work closely with experts from a range of institutional, academic and grassroots backgrounds to ensure that the next round of the project has a profound impact on gender equality in the sports sector.
Resources – Violence against women
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, is the first legally binding instrument to address violence against women and domestic violence in Europe. It contains a wide range of obligations aiming to prevent violence, protect its victims, prosecute the perpetrators, implement co-ordinated policies and promote international co-operation.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2023, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) organised a Breakfast Roundtable on Women in Sport which focused on combating gender-based violence in sport. The event took place on 8 March from 9.30am to 11.30am in hybrid format (online from...
Council of Europe work on gender equality
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