Female Athletes’ Experiences of Gender Based Barriers in Sports
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53103/cjess.v5i6.402Keywords:
Gender-Based Barriers, Women in Sports, Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Factors, Harassment and Safety in SportsAbstract
This study aimed to explore the gender-based barriers experienced by girls and women in sports in Pakistan and to develop a contemporary understanding of these obstacles. The goal is to investigate the sociocultural and socio-economic challenges faced by women in sports, as well as issues related to safety and harassment. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 female athletes who are also students from the University of Lahore, the University of the Punjab, the Pakistan Army Taekwondo Women’s Wing, the WAPDA Women’s Taekwondo Team, the Pakistan Railways Team, and the Higher Education Commission Taekwondo Team. The findings reveal that gender plays a key role in limiting women’s participation in sports. This thesis argues that women face several gender-based barriers, particularly in the areas of socio-economic constraints and security concerns.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, J., Jamshaid, F., & Ahmed, B. (2018). The impact of gender discrimination on trait sports confidence (TSCI) in Pakistani athlete’s.
Appleby, K. M., & Fisher, L. A. (2009). “Running in and out of motherhood”: elite distance runners’ experiences of returning to competition after pregnancy. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 18(1), 3-17.
Appleby, K. M., & Foster, E. (2013). Gender and sport participation. In Gender relations in sport (pp. 1-20). Brill Sense.
Arikawa, A. Y., O’Dougherty, M., & Schmitz, K. H. (2011). Adherence to a strength training intervention in adult women. Journal of physical activity and health, 8(1), 111-118.
Barnett, B., & Hardin, M. C. (2011). Advocacy from the liberal feminist playbook: The framing of Title IX and women’s sports in news releases from the Women’s Sports Foundation. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4(2), 178-197.
Brackenridge, C., & Fasting, K. (2005). The grooming process in sport: Narratives of sexual harassment and abuse. Auto/Biography, 13(1), 33-52.
Brown, W. J., Heesch, K. C., & Miller, Y. D. (2009). Life events and changing physical activity patterns in women at different life stages. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37(3), 294- 305.
Burnett, C. (2014). A critical reflection on sport-for-development discourses: A review. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 36(3), 11-24.
Calogero, R. M. (2004). A test of objectification theory: The effect of the male gaze on appearance concerns in college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28(1), 16-21.
Cortis, N., Katz, I., & Patulny, R. (2009). Engaging hard-to-reach families and children. FaHCSIA occasional paper, (26).
Cox, L., Coleman, L., & Roker, D. (2008). Communication and supervision of alcohol in the family: Parental perspectives. Children & Society, 22(5), 370-382.
David Meier, L. (2005). The Toyota way fieldbook. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Declaration, B. (1994). International Working Group on Women and Sport The Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport. Dumazedier J (1974). Sociology of Leisure.
Eade, D. (1997). Capacity-building: An approach to people-centred development. Oxfam.
Elendu, I. C., & Orunaboka, T. T. (2011). Sport as an institution for gender stereotype challenge and women empowerment: a reflection on Nigerian elite sportswomen at the Olympics. The Shield-Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Science., 6.
Fasting, K., Pfister, G., & Scraton, S. (2004). Kampen mot kjønnsstereotypiene: En komparativ studie av kvinnelige fotballspilleres oppfattelse av maskulinitet og feminitet. Dansk sociologi, 15(2), 41-53.
Gender in Development GIDD, 2000. Natinol gender policy. Office of the president, cabinet office. Luska, Zambia
Huberty, J. L., Ransdell, L. B., Sidman, C., Flohr, J. A., Shultz, B., Grosshans, O., & Durrant, L. (2008). Explaining long-term exercise adherence in women who complete a structured exercise program. Research Quarterly for exercise and Sport, 79(3), 374-384.
Huggins, A., & Randell, S. K. (2007, May). Gender equality in education in Rwanda: What is happening to our girls. In South African Association of Women Graduates Conference. South Africa: Cape Town.
LaVoi & Kane, 2011, Localization of renin expressing cells in the brain, by use of a REN-eGFP transgenic model. Physiological genomics, 16(2), 240-246.
Lazzaro-Weis, C. (2011). From margins to mainstream: feminism and fictional modes in Italian women's writing, 1968-1990. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Manyonganise, M. (2010). From “safety” zones to public spaces: Women’s participation in sport in Zimbabwe’. Gender, sport and development in Africa: Cross-cultural perspecfives on patterns of representafion and marginalisafion, 13-26.
Massao, P., & Fasting, K. (2005). Women and sport in Tanzania. In Sport and Women (pp. 134- 137). Routledge.
Mciza, Z. J, (2007). Validity and reliability of a physical activity/inactivity questionnaire in South African primary schoolgirls. South African Journal of Sports Medicine, 19(5), 117- 124.
Messner, M. A. (1992). Power at play: Sports and the problem of masculinity. Beacon Press. Mishler, E. G. (1991). Research interviewing. Harvard University Press.
Northern Ireland Assembly. (2010) Barriers to Sports and Physical Activity Participation Research Paper 18/10 Research and Library Services. Retrieved 31.07.13 from http://www.niassembly gov uk/researchandlibrary/2010/1810.pdf
Parratt, J. R. (1994). Protection of the heart by ischaemic preconditioning: mechanisms and possibilities for pharmacological exploitation. Trends in pharmacological sciences, 15(1), 19-25.
Putnam, D. T. (1999). Controversies of the sports world. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Salvatore, J., & Marecek, J. (2010). Gender in the gym: Evaluation concerns as barriers to women’s weight lifting. Sex Roles, 63(7-8), 556-567.
Schultz, J. (2014). Qualifying times: Points of change in US women's sport. University of Illinois Press.
Smith, Y. R. (1992). Women of color in society and sport. Quest, 44(2), 228-250.
Trost, S. G., Owen, N., Bauman, A. E., Sallis, J. F., & Brown, W. (2002). Correlates of adults’ participation in physical activity: review and update. Medicine & science in sports & exercise, 34(12), 1996-2001.
Walter, C. M., Du Randt, R., & Venter, D. J. (2011). The physical activity and health status of two generations of Black South African professional women. Health SA Gesondheid, 16(1).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sajawal Zaheer, Flower Zaheer, Sardar Ali Baghat Singh

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published by CJESS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits third parties to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon the original work provided that the original work and source is appropriately cited.
