th Dubai International Academy Model United Nations 2018 | 10 ​ Annual Session ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Forum: General Assembly 3 - Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Issue: Furthering women’s participation in sports and related activities in the Indian Subcontinent ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Student Officer: Aman Jalan ​ ​ ​ ​ Position: Head Chair ​ ​ ​ Introduction In a world that is progressing towards gender equality economically and socially, it is imperative that equality is also achieved in the field of sports. However, statistics prove otherwise. According to the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, women’s sports received only 7% of coverage and 0.4% of the total value of commercial sponsorships in 2013. Furthermore, this statistic would’ve been even worse had it been for specifically the Indian Subcontinent. One of the key reasons for this issue is the conservative mentality that society in these countries have. Over there, a woman’s destiny is to marry a well-to-do husband and take care of him and their family. Women, often times, are considered to be a burden rather than a blessing in conservative parts of these countries. Therefore, the concept of women partaking in sporting activities professionally is surreal to these people. Furthermore, A combination of other factors such as unstable incomes, subpar facilities, sponsorship struggles, poverty and safety issues has also led to this situation. Despite these factors, there still has been a lot of efforts made. For example, the Sri Lankan government had taken various steps in the past to help promote sports amongst women and also had various schemes to identify potential talents. Furthermore, the Indian Olympics Women’s team won the nation’s heart after bagging various spots at the finals and also winning two Olympic medals. This event has inspired many to follow their dreams. However, the job isn’t yet over. To overcome the existing problems, there are many possible solutions. Some of them include increasing government allocation of funds towards sports, increasing job security, promoting women’s sports through various advertising methods and mandating compulsory sports for both genders in schools. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Research Report | Page 1 of 11 ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ th Dubai International Academy Model United Nations 2018 | 10 ​ Annual Session ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Definition of Key Terms ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Indian Subcontinent: The Indian subcontinent is the southern region of Asia that consists of countries ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ Luge: Luge is a winter sport featured at the Winter Olympic Games where a competitor or two-person ​ team rides a flat sled while lying supine (face up) and feet first. The sport is usually contested on a specially designed ice track that allows gravity to increase the sled's speed. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Social stigma: Social Stigma is the disapproval of a person or a group according to society. This can lead to innumerable psychological effects on the person. Social stigmas can occur in many different forms such as stigma due to culture, obesity, gender, race, illness and disease. Many people who have ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ been stigmatized, feel as though they are transforming from a whole person to a tainted one. They feel different and devalued by others. This can happen in the workplace, educational settings, health care, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ the criminal justice system, and even in their own family. ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ Poverty: According to the World Health Organization, “Poverty is often defined in absolute terms of low ​ ​ income – less than US$2 a day.” Poverty can also be defined as the general scarcity or the state of one ​ who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. I​ t is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the lack of ​ means necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. A​ bsolute poverty is considered to be about the same independent of location. Relative poverty occurs when people in a country do not enjoy a certain minimum level of living standards as compared to the rest of the population and so would vary from country to country, sometimes within the same country. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sports Quota Jobs: These are reserved government jobs for athletes who have competed at State, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ District or National Level tournaments in any sport. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Key Issues ​ ​ There are various factors that hinder women’s participation in sports. They include a range of ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ social and economic concerns. The main hurdles have been discussed below ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Research Report | Page 2 of 11 ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ th Dubai International Academy Model United Nations 2018 | 10 ​ Annual Session ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Social Stigma: Because the Indian subcontinent holds very conservative views about women, it is ​ almost impossible for women to be professional athletes. Women are associated with words such as gentle, caring, fragile rather than tough, hardworking and so on. Still, women are expected to be housewives who are married off as soon as they are done with their high school or college. To understand this point, it is essential to know the importance of society in such countries. The influence of society’s views is so much that a family going against it is secluded from everyone else and basically becomes a social outcast. Because society is such, even if a parent is thinking of letting his/her daughter pursue a career in sports, more often than not, this idea will be dropped because of the social backlash that the whole family will face. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Unstable Incomes: Another major drawback in the Indian Subcontinent is the low payroll for athletes. ​ Society doesn’t consider this profession to be as noble and important as a profession like an engineer, doctor or a lawyer. Therefore, only sportswomen who make it to the top stage, such as international level, earn a decent living. As a result, many talented people often drop out fearing that they won’t be able to make it to the top and thus be able to a provide for their families. Some also have normal jobs in the side to earn some extra money. This takes time off their training, which results in limited performance growth. Moreover, few sports in these countries are prioritized over the others. Specifically, these countries prefer cricket over any sport. Consequently, other sports such as football and basketball suffer, as less financial priority is given. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Subpar facilities: As sports isn’t considered a priority, governments in these nations don’t allocate ​ enough money towards infrastructure or development in other aspects. A perfect example of this is the comparison between India’s annual spending on the sports infrastructure and the UK’s annual spending on sports infrastructure: The United Kingdom, which is around twenty times smaller than India in terms of population, spent thrice the amount of money, $1.5 Billion as compared to India’s spending of $500 Million, on sports affairs. This point is further brought out through an example of the current state of infrastructure in India. Shiva Keshavan, India’s most prominent Winter Olympics athlete, has no coach, funds his own training, and practices on mountainous roads dodging goats and vehicles because India cannot afford a luge track. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Research Report | Page 3 of 11 ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ th Dubai International Academy Model United Nations 2018 | 10 ​ Annual Session ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sponsorship Struggles: Companies offer sponsorship to sports athletes or teams as a whole so that ​ the audience is made aware about the brand and buys from that particular brand the next time it goes shopping. The more famous an athlete or a team is, the more the audience members, and therefore, more beneficial the sponsorship for the sponsor. This is a hindrance for women, who have a relatively smaller audience when compared to men (one statistic shows that the women’s world cup final match was viewed as much as a popular men’s county cricket match), as they aren’t offered as lucrative sponsorships offers as men because sponsoring them isn’t as financially beneficial as sponsoring men. Furthermore, women’s tournaments don’t offer as high cash prizes as men’s tournaments do. The ​ Professional Golfers’ Association, for instance, offers $256 million in prize money, whereas the women’s association offers only $50 million. This inequality in pay discourages women. Furthermore, India and Pakistan hold very successful cash-rich men’s cricket tournaments: Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League respectively. However, both these nations have failed to offer such a platform for women due to low interests shown by potential sponsors. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Poverty: Due to poor economic conditions where buying meals thrice a day is a problem, investing in ​ training of girls is the least of the priorities for these families.