A marked increase in anterior cruciate ligament injuries in women’s soccer is attributable to “systemic sexism in sports,” said a British Parliament report released Tuesday.
A committee on the status of women and parity indicated that there persists “a glaring lack of understanding of the health and physiological needs of women and girls in sport”.
In its report entitled “Obstacles to the health of women and girls in sport”, the absence of shoes designed specifically for the needs of female soccer players is cited as a source of concern and the government is asked to create a commission to resolve this issue.
“The fact that the world’s first soccer shoe designed specifically for women was created less than four years ago is a symptom of sexism in sports,” said committee president Caroline Nokes.
The numerous injuries to the anterior cruciate ligaments of star players have drawn attention to this specific issue.
Chelsea Australian forward Samantha Kerr suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January. Other players such as Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead and Leah Williamson have also suffered this type of injury.
The committee noted that the response from the field of sports science has been “slow and inconsistent”, and that research into sport and exercise has been “overwhelmingly” led by men.
“We are convinced that if a similar health issue had affected elite men’s soccer, then the response would have been much faster, more complete and much better coordinated,” it was mentioned.
The report adds that the source of the problem goes much deeper and called for schools to “drastically” improve their education on women’s physiology, including the menstrual cycle, especially when addressing topics such as sports and physical exercise.
This is therefore, once again, a source of concern.
And even beyond soccer, the report “deplores” “harmful” teaching practices that include “public weighing, denigration of people who are overweight, as well as bullying in aquatic sports and in sport in general which have tarnished the credibility of sports organizations in the eyes of the population.
The British government now has two months to respond to the report.