Fair Play And Feminism

With International Women's Day upon us, it's not time to be talking about football, right? Football is played by men and watched by men, I mean how many famous female players can you name? And IWD is all about serious topics like gender violence, and not about fun things like sport.

Not my opinion but I'm sure some people think that way.

In fact at the East Africa Cup in 2010, I got a strong reminder of how sport can influence the way girls and women are viewed and how it can work as a tool to challenge gender stereotypes.

The head of referees at the EAC, who is also the first female Kenyan Premier League referee, was being interviewed on the BBC World Service flagship programme The World Today*.

She talked about how sending men off in local matches was initially scary because of threats of violence, and how people in her community respected her after seeing her successful career. It was during the 2010 World Cup, and she was talking about attitudes to women, domestic violence, and expectations of gender roles to an audience of millions. It was a conversation that was happening because of football.

The EAC isn't just about the high profile success stories though: it's a tournament for people using grassroots sport in their community throughout the year. Half of youth participants are girls. They play football at the event, attend workshops, meet people from other countries… importantly they participate visibly in community activity.

Some go on to become referees, community leaders, first aiders or sports medicine practitioners. Others participate in media skills workshops and learn things which can help them in their careers. For others the EAC is a reward for working hard at school throughout the year: putting on a kit and playing in a team will not lead to a job, it's a chance to get fit and be part of a team.

All of which can have an important effect on how women and girls see themselves and how they are perceived in their community.

Listen below to the interview with Maqulate Onyango - head of the referees at the East African Cup.

* the global audience for the World Service is around 180 million