21 Sep 2015

International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) co-chairperson, Ruth Maphorisa says IWG is a network of an organisation with interest, passion on issues of women and sport and provides platform for the discussion of such issues.

Speaking at the IWG workshop in Gaborone, Maphorisa said subject of women and sport were embedded in inclusiveness, hence it was important to talk about mainstreaming gender into sport as it plays a significant role in advancing the cause for women.

Maphorisa also encouraged the media to report more on women in sport, adding that they should be accorded prominent pages.

However, she noted that it was disturbing to find that achievements of women in sport were hidden in the corners of newspapers while a story on relegation of a football team would be given prominence.

“Yes we are looking forward for reporting on such issues, but we do not want the page that is full of negatives, and we do not want a page, that somewhere in that corner hides women issues and concentration is on a football club relegation,” she said.

The media, she said has reported extensively about Amantle Montsho and her predicament but not on how the stakeholders were rebuilding the athlete.

For her part, representative of Department of Gender, Gorata Ntshwabi reiterated that sports play a major role in the developmental processes of the country, economically, socially and in the academic spheres. She said long ago, sport had been male dominated and this hindered efforts made in the promotion of gender equality.

These gender gaps, she said, discouraged women from seeing their potential in sports especially football. 

“Based on this, it is crucial that as partners driving the gender agenda, we identify our roles, reinforce them to enhance the participation of women and girls in sport,” she said.

She however said Botswana continues to accord women leadership roles in political, administration and corporate world, adding women have the right to participate in decisions that affect their families, societies and particularly their own well-being.  “Despite progress made, women are still largely absent from national and local decision-making bodies including sports.”

Botswana, she said, has also infused sports into the school curriculum from as early as primary school though a lot of sport codes are not yet introduced at that level. She said there are women taking physical education as teaching subjects while socialisation of girls also influences their decisions of selection for courses and sport codes, adding that through empowerment, women and girls become aware of unequal power relations  Ends