Human Rights, Gender and Sport: Lessons from Australian Rules Football

in Paula Gerber and Melissa Castan (eds), Contemporary Perspectives on Human Rights Law in Australia (Thomson Reuters, Vol 2, 2020) Forthcoming

23 Pages Posted: 19 Jun 2019 Last revised: 3 Mar 2020

See all articles by Kate Seear

Kate Seear

Monash University

Liam Elphick

The University of Western Australia Law School; Melbourne Law School; La Trobe Law School; Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: 2020

Abstract

The development of women’s sport has long been intrinsically connected with human rights, whether in promoting gender equality, removing barriers to full participation in society, or addressing discrimination based on sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. This is particularly so in Australia with the recent development of several elite-level female sporting competitions at a national level, such as the National Rugby League Women’s Premiership and the Women’s Twenty20 Big Bash League. These competitions, many still in their infancy, provide a lens within which to examine human rights issues in society, from which broader lessons can be learned moving forward. Indeed, human rights scholars often draw a link between sport and gender equality, arguing that equal opportunity to participate in and play sport is an important human rights concern.

This chapter therefore explores the relationship between human rights and sport in contemporary Australia, using the first two seasons of the Australian Football League Women (AFLW) as its case study. We begin with a brief overview of the connection between human rights and sport as well as women’s involvement in Australian Rules football since its inception, including an outline of some of the historic structural barriers to full participation that women have faced. Following this, through an analysis of two case studies - sex discrimination and LGBTIQ+ rights - we examine some of the human rights controversies, challenges and opportunities thrown up by the development and launch of the AFLW. We argue that a close examination of the first two years of the AFLW provides useful insights into how sport can advance human rights, including non-discrimination, gender equality and LGBTIQ+ rights. At the same time, we argue that the existing format and structure of the AFLW poses risks to gender equality and human rights more broadly, including transgender rights. We conclude with some reflections about the lessons offered by the first two seasons of the AFLW, including what the first two seasons mean for the future of human rights in the AFL, in particular, and in Australian sport more broadly.

Keywords: human rights, sport, women's sport, AFLW, gender equality

JEL Classification: K33, K39

Suggested Citation

Seear, Kate and Elphick, Liam, Human Rights, Gender and Sport: Lessons from Australian Rules Football (2020). in Paula Gerber and Melissa Castan (eds), Contemporary Perspectives on Human Rights Law in Australia (Thomson Reuters, Vol 2, 2020) Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3402228

Kate Seear

Monash University ( email )

23 Innovation Walk
Wellington Road
Clayton, Victoria 3800
Australia

Liam Elphick (Contact Author)

The University of Western Australia Law School ( email )

M253
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, Western Australia 6009
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/liam-elphick

Melbourne Law School ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Melbourne, VIC 3010
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.unimelb.edu.au/students/grd/students/liam-elphick

La Trobe Law School ( email )

La Trobe University
Bundoora, VIC 3083 3142
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/lelphick

Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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