EWA

About the Project​

Sport is a means of self-expression and fulfilment, as well as a force for citizenship and solidarity, while stressing how violence against women, stereotyping, differences in payment and barriers to women’s involvement in management are still problems tackling the sport sector. Those barriers act on multiple levels (verbal, physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, social, cultural, organisational, economic, mediatic, ecc.) and are collectively perceived as a pervasive chauvinist culture that permeates the career of any female athlete.

The “Empowering Women Athletes” Project (acronym “EWA”) is a Collaborative Partnerships project in the field of “SPORT” that is co-founded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme. It is developed by sports federations, research centres and universities, local public administrations, transnational non-profit associations and it aims to combat violence, abuse, harassment, and discrimination against women in sports.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To develop a community of female athletes, professionals, sport managers and policy makers in Europe who actively prevent and counter violence, abuse, harassment, and discrimination against female athletes in key sports environments, providing them with knowledge, education, and practical tools specifically designed by the project. EWA was designed on the basis of a Multi-layered Model approach to the given issue, for which a stratified set of stakeholders — individuals but also organisations — contribute to the determination and maintenance of a well radicated problem.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

  • Catalyze social players and communities in Europe that already dealt with the issue around a comprehensive dialogue on the state of the art and next steps to take.
  • Promote an innovative and multi-layered response to the problem tackled, maximising and building on past experiences, and creating new strategies and tools at EU level.
  • Activate beneficiaries in Europe through a grass-roots awareness-raising campaign aiming at acknowledging and valorising the role of women in sports.
  • Produce and disseminate counter-narratives on women in sports through a social media campaign.
  • Test and assess a training and awareness raising campaign addressed to athletes and sports professionals (coaches, tutors, managers, etc.).
  • Experiment a peer-to-peer support system to encourage adoption of concrete solutions to the problem of serious violence and abuse of female athletes.
  • Raise and submit a petition on the issue to the EU that is participated by citizens in the European Union.

EWA project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Full Title: “Empowering Women Athletes: Tackling Feminine Abuse, Violence and Discrimination in EU Sports Clubs”

Start: 01/01/2021

Finish: 31/06/2023

Programme: Erasmus+

Key-Action: Sport

Acronym Title: EWA

 

The Partnership

Τhe participating countries and partner organisations are: Ente Nazionale Democratico di Azione Sociale (Italy), Bulgarian Sports Development Association (Bulgaria), Inforef (Belgium), European Institute for Local Development (Greece), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), Çatalca District Directorate of National Education (Turkey), Latvian Sports Federations Council (Latvia), Innovation Academy (Lithuania) and Young Initiative Education, Youth And Sports Club Association (Turkey).