00:00It's no secret that women in sport are often less revered than their male
00:05counterparts. The Institute for Development and Gender Studies Respect
00:10Her Game campaign is on a quest to change that and senior lecturer Dr.
00:15Gabrielle Hossain is challenging DJs to step up to the cause. A campaign that
00:21promotes empowering, safe, healthy and respectful sports spaces for girls who
00:30are athletes and for youth athlete development. By saying in those spaces
00:35that we need to not play music that sexualizes girls when they are out there
00:42to compete. We're also inviting DJs to submit youth sport music mixes that
00:48provide a different playlist and we are hoping that all the corporate bodies
00:53that sponsor youth events and the Ministry of Sport for the next year
00:57commit to playing those mixes at their sporting events. Hossain notes that attire
01:03for female athletes is another area where women and girls are placed at a
01:07disadvantage. In 2021 for example the Norwegian national team appealed to the
01:13beach ball, the beach handball governing body asking to wear less
01:18revealing clothes as the requirement was that they wear bikini bottoms. The team
01:23took to the court wearing bike shorts and astonishingly were fined 1,500 euros
01:30for wearing improper clothing. Sexualization of women and girls
01:35however goes beyond the sporting field and it can also be found online and
01:40includes how women's bodies are discussed and represented. The Respect
01:44Her Game campaign is encouraging all members of society to see female
01:49athletes as athletes first and the females second. The sexualization of
01:54girls and women not only contributes to mental health issues but to rape culture
01:59and violence against women. In Trinidad and Tobago where one in five women has
02:04experienced non-partner sexual violence and where the sexualization of children
02:09is a major issue this is this is really a priority. The question is when did we
02:18decide as a culture that it was okay to sexualize girls and if we didn't decide
02:24it as a culture well we can certainly decide now.
02:28Renassa Cutting TV6 News
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