As part of ongoing efforts address the pervasive issue of violence against women and girls in sport, UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector, in partnership with the European Union Delegation to the OECD and UNESCO, hosted a panel discussion and screening of the documentary “SUITE: Les violences sexuelles dans le milieu de l’athlétisme”. Held at UNESCO, the event convened government representatives, civil society leaders, leading academics, and sports professionals for a dynamic conversation as part of the . This event comes after a landmark Decision was passed at UNESCO’s Executive Board in October 2024, titled “UNESCO’s Fit for Life Sport Initiative – Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls and Advancing Safe Sport for All” and co-sponsored by nearly 80 Member States from across all regions.
Violence and abuse in sport harms our athletes, it harms the reputation and the integrity of the world of sport, and it harms society as a whole – with measurable costs. Moreover, it prevents sports from becoming a source of equality and wellbeing. We should not spare efforts to tackle these problems and, more than anything, protect women and girls in the sport ecosystem.
In 2024, the rights of women and girls continue to face significant threats, setbacks, and, in some cases, complete erosion in various parts of the world, undoing decades of hard-fought progress. We cannot wait another 25 years to address this issue: both globally and in sport, it is a crucial challenge that needs to be tackled collectively.
The session opened with remarks by Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO and H.E. Christina Kokkinakis, EU Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO, who emphasized the critical importance of tackling violence against women and girls in sport as a matter of human rights and societal well-being.
ADG Ramos called on governments to intensify their efforts and consolidate actions to address gender-based violence in sport at the global level under UNESCO’s Fit for Life framework by adopting the recommendations contained in UNESCO’s 10-point Call to Action “Towards a Safer Playing Field” and various policy toolkits, focusing on five priority action areas: (1) data, research and impact measurement, (2) inclusive and participatory policy-making, (3) safeguarding and reporting, (4) education and capacity-building, (5) advocacy and communications.
Ambassador Kokkinakis underscored the EU’s strong commitment to gender equality, as demonstrated by its and the recently adopted , which aims to combat gender-based violence by strengthening accountability systems and protecting survivors. Building on this commitment, UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector, in collaboration with the Permanent Delegation of the European Union to the OECD and UNESCO, will continue to advance this shared agenda through the implementation of .
Taekwondo Olympic Medalist and “Peace & Sport” Champion Marlene Nidecker then set the scene for the panel discussion by sharing the story of Ruth Gbagbi, the first Olympic medalist from Ivory Coast who inspired millions of girls to pursue their sport dreams and defy restrictive social norms and harmful stereotypes on women in sport.
Following these introductory remarks, an engaging panel discussion moderated by Nancy McLennan, Lead of the Fit for Life Global Alliance in UNESCO’s Sport Section, provided key insights from the policy sector, academia, civil society and the world of sport on priority actions and effective strategies to create safer, more inclusive sport environments. The interactive exchange session featured:
- H.E. Paula Alves de Souza – Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil to UNESCO
- H.E. Laura Andrea Guillem Gloria – Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to UNESCO
- Dr Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu – Director, Sports Equity Lab and Associate Professor, Stanford Medical School and Yale School of Public Health
- Emma Oudiou – Former professional athlete, violence prevention activist, UNESCO Fit for Life Star for Safe Sport and creator of “SUITE”
Panelists underscored the pressing need for systemic reform and international collaboration to ensure the safety and inclusion of athletes at all levels. Emphasis was placed on the role of governments in implementing robust legislative frameworks and strengthening public policies to create standardized safeguarding obligations that protect all participants. Creating safe and inclusive sports spaces was identified as essential, with public programs needing to foster trust, equality, and participation, particularly for marginalized groups such as women, girls, and persons with disabilities. Transformative legislative advancements, such as Brazil’s Lei Maranhão, were highlighted for their impact in increasing survivor reporting and ensuring accountability. Similarly, gender-sensitive policies, like those introduced in Colombia, showcased how inclusive sports environments can drive participation, promote social cohesion, and serve as powerful tools for peacebuilding, especially in conflict-affected areas.
We need to provide women and girls with tools to identify and face potential dangers, it involves education of all stakeholders including victims, which is challenging in an environment in which violence has been normalized.
We need to be able to offer and impose responses [to violence] on a global scale, to force governments and the sport movement to take action. Women and girls in sport need strong messages and judicial systems to protect them better.
Emma Oudiou, creator of the documentary ٱշ”, emphasized the importance of empowering survivors and amplifying voices by integrating survivor perspectives into decision-making, explaining how lived experiences provide essential insights for shaping effective safeguarding policies. Emma also highlighted the urgent need to rethink and reform elite sport institutions and their practices to ensure that athletes’ well-being and safety are not sacrificed for the sake of performance, including by mitigating power imbalances between coaches and athletes and creating credible, independent reporting mechanisms for abuse.
The wisdom of how to fight problems is wrapped up in victim stories and communities, technology can help us surface those pearls of wisdom and scale people’s stories.
In her interventions, Dr. Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu drew for her experience as an elite athlete competing for Ghana but also her academic career at the intersection of medicine, safe sport and social equity. She highlighted the importance of common, universal and easy definitions in sport, in order to adequately measure the scale and scope of violence, raise awareness, compare data across countries and develop policies. She advocated to “change the conversation” around gender-based violence but acknowledging the subjectivity, complexity and nuances of the issue and by drawing on good practices from the public health sector to tackle abuse in sport.
All panelists asserted the necessity of global, multi-sector collaboration. Panelists stressed that governments, sports organizations, academia and civil society mustwork together to implement safeguarding measures that address both the immediate needs of survivors and the underlying systemic inequalities and harmful gender norms that perpetuate violence.
These interconnected approaches—grounded in robust policy legislation, integration of inclusivity in coaching, survivor empowerment and collective action —form the foundation for creating safer sports environments. Supported by global frameworks such as UNESCO’s Fit for Life Global Sport Alliance, these efforts reflect a collective commitment to tackling violence and inequality in sport through evidence-based and survivor-centred approches.
Stories of resilience : Screening of « SUITE: les violences sexuelles dans le milieu de l’athlétisme » by Emma Oudiou
Following the panel discussion, the documentary illustrated the value of survivor-led advocacy and storytelling as transformative tools for systemic change. ٱշ” gathers powerful testimonies from elite athletes who have survived violence, shedding light on the systemic failures that perpetuate abuse within professional athletics. Through their stories, the documentary explores the profound impact of abuse on personal lives and careers, while calling for comprehensive reforms to protect athletes at all levels of play. By documenting these experiences, Oudiou aims to not only break the silence but also to advocate for systemic change in safeguarding practices globally.
Listening to and elevating lived experiences, Emma Oudiou explained, provides essential insights for designing effective safeguarding policies. She also highlighted the power of survivor voices to raise awareness and inspire collective action around the cultural shifts we need to see to advance safe sport for all. The documentary served as a stark reminder of the need, globally, for survivor-centered policy frameworks and practices, bridging advocacy and political commitments with actionable solutions.
This film is a cry of truth, but also a call to action. You need to watch the documentary with your eyes, but also with your heart and your humanity.
A Global Framework for Safer Sports
The powerful narratives captured in the documentary resonate deeply with the conclusions of the panel discussion and UNESCO’s ongoing efforts to address systemic inequalities in sport in collaboration with the European Union and other partners of the Fit for Life Alliance. These stories underscore the urgency of global frameworks like the Fit for Life initiative, which aim to translate advocacy and research into concrete policy recommendations for safer, more inclusive sports environments. It aligns with global tools such as the and the , both designed to support Member States in creating safer and more inclusive sports environments and UNESCO’s global priority of ending all forms of violence against women and girls in sport.
