Inquiry into female participation in sport and physical activity

I was badly injured in a mixed sex basketball game whilst at university when I collided with a male player. This injury ended my participation in elite sports.

Women are constrained by their biology in ways that men are not - for example, physical performance is linked to our menstrual cycle. At community level, this can explain why women and girls will pick-up unexpected injuries or have a 'bad' session, but it is rarely discussed or widely known.

At the very least, women and girls need safe, secure and private changing facilities. Above all else, facilities where women and girls are undressed must always be single sex.

In my experience, it was very difficult to find a good coach - this was 20 years ago, and female athletes were treated like small men rather than different people with different needs. Viewed from this perspective, female sports is regarded as being 'lesser' than male sports and this attitude persists today (professional sportswomen earn less than sportsmen). There is consequently less encouragement, less support and less infrastructure for females.

The principle of fairness should be paramount in sports, otherwise what is the point? We become a bunch of overgrown children, still playing silly games. Fairness means that the integrity of female sports should be protected, and participation in competitions should be restricted to those who are born female.

Finding accessible and affordable childcare.

Having adult specific fitness/sporting events running in parallel with sports for kids in community of leisure centres. For example - a kids swimming club in one room while the Mum's play basketball in the other.

The health and safety concerns of allowing male born people to complete in female sports are real and significant and must not be dismissed. If the goal is to increase female participation, then the safety and dignity of women and girls must be prioritised.