WOMEN and Girls in Sport Week 2020 has just kicked off with the aim of getting more girls into sport at all levels and understanding their specific needs.
This type of campaign is necessary as we all continue our essential work to encourage more women and girls to get active, telling them that sport is a good environment and that they will be treated with respect and dignity. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be the case last weekend when Manchester City “star” Sergio Aguero disputed a throw-in with assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis and then proceeded to place a patronising hand on her shoulder! Would he have done that to a male referee, I don’t think so?
It’s just as well we have the likes of Scottish Squash, which is working hard to bring equality and understanding of female athletes, into its sport. For W&G in Sport week, it has undertaken a 500-mile road trip to announce its period poverty campaign, which has been supported by sportscotland.
Head of development David Fallon and women and girls development officer Cara Shearer will lead the campaign. Working with the Hey Girls social enterprise, which provides free menstrual products to girls in need, they will visit 22 clubs over five days, starting in Dumfries and finishing in Inverness.
With a plan to highlight the different ways period poverty and menstruation affect female athletes, their aim is to share knowledge, which will let young women understand that they are not alone and that many sports recognise the impact that menstruation can have individually on activity levels.
There will be insights from the Scottish Squash women’s national team, running alongside a series of short video bursts and infographics which will be released each day.
Handy packs have been created for display in the club restrooms alongside posters as well as an information resource pack, which will try to take the mystery and embarrassment out of the female menstrual cycle.
You can follow their journey on social media on various platforms – Twitter @Scottish_Squash, Facebook @scottishsquash and Instagram @scottishsquash
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