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Women’s national leagues: does CEDAW go far enough?

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Abstract

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, CEDAW on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1249 U.N.T.S. 13, 1979) states the goals of equality between men and women in sports. However, today there are only a limited number of women’s national leagues in the world, but hundreds of men’s national leagues, which seems to go against CEDAW’s edict of equality. This paper will consider the issues relative to the goals of CEDAW with regard to equality as specifically applied to the idea of women’s national professional sports leagues and whether or not CEDAW goes far enough in supporting this goal.

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Notes

  1. See, Pruitt (2011).

  2. See, Higher Goals: Women’s Ice Hockey and the Politics of Gender, by Nancy Theberge, SUNY series on Sport, Culture, and Social Relations (2000); See also, Online Debate on Women and Contact Sports—debate against women’s contact sports won, http://www.debate.org/debates/women-and-contact-sports/2/.

  3. See, CEDAW Preamble.

  4. 34/180.

  5. See, Short History of CEDAW, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/history.htm.

  6. Development of the reporting system was as a result of the adoption of the Declaration by the Economic and Social Commission.

  7. Short History of CEDAW CEDAW, at para. 6.

  8. As of May 2009, 186 countries have ratified the CEDAW.

  9. CEDAW, Art. 1.

  10. CEDAW, at Art. 10.

  11. CEDAW, at Article.

  12. See, IWRAW (2009).

  13. See, IWRAW (2009) at.

  14. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (2006), para. 33.

  15. See, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (2007), para. 14 and 15.

  16. Id at para 15. Restates CEDAW goals of achieving de jure and de facto (formal and substantive) equality.

  17. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equality

  18. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equal

  19. CEDAW Art. 2.

  20. CEDAW at Art. 2(a).

  21. For example, biological differences can be considered when determining or establishing “equal” opportunities for women. However, these differences should not equate to inequality.

  22. See, Keynote Address by Ms. Rachel Mayanja (2012).

  23. International Working Group on Women and Sport (1994) The Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport. Available from http://www.iwggti.org. See also, Women, gender, equality and sport, United Nations, Division for the Advancement of Women Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Women 2000 and beyond. Published to promote the goals of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for action, December 2007.

  24. See, Forbes, Highest paid female athletes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/08/01/the-highest-paid-female-athletes/.

  25. See, Where are the Women?, which identifies some of the problems suffered by women’s sports teams such as limited fans, sponsors or television support. http://www.public.iastate.edu.

  26. National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), women’s ice hockey league established in 1999, but ended in 2007.

  27. See, Women’s Basketball Online, WNBA Salary Scale, http://www.womensbasketballonline.com/wnba/rosters/salary.html; See also, WNBA Salaries, http://www.altiusdirectory.com/sports/wnba-salaries.php.

  28. See, Women’s Basketball Online, WNBA Salary Scale, http://www.womensbasketballonline.com/wnba/rosters/salary.html; See also, WNBA Salaries, http://www.altiusdirectory.com/sports/wnba-salaries.php.

  29. For example, the average salary of a WNBA player in 1998, was about $50,000; the average NBA player in that same year earned an average salary of $2.3 million.

  30. Women’s Income, Kimberly Goad, 2006, http://www.worldmapper.org.

  31. See, The Guardian, Sport, Nicole Cooke’s retirement statement in full, Monday 14 January 2013, http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/14/nicole-cooke-retirement-statement. See also, Cycling Weekly, UCI’s Master Plan to save Women’s Cycling, 17 October 2012; Brian Cookson’s statements on A minimum wage for women cyclists—"If you passed a rule tomorrow saying that a women's pro team had to have a minimum wage, the first result would be you'd lose half the teams, because they couldn't afford it."

  32. Voepel (2009). http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=4351786.

  33. CEDAW Art. 1.

  34. See, CEDAW, Introduction.

  35. See CEDAW Art. 2.

  36. CEDAW at Art. 2 (b).

  37. CEDAW at Article 4.

  38. CEDAW at Article 4.

  39. CEDAW at Art. 11 1.

  40. CEDAW.

  41. CEDAW at Article 11.

  42. Mechelle Voepel, Economy tests already frugal WNBA—from sponsors on jerseys to independently owned teams, WNBA changes with the times, ESPNW. WNBA, July 24, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=4351786.

  43. Yonda (2011).

  44. The United States NBA and WNBA comparison, is used with the recognition that the United States is not a signor to the CEDAW Convention. Nonetheless, lessons can still be learned from the USA, however, USA could be perceived as a greater role model by signing CEDAW, but this is a different issue not addressed in this paper.

  45. See, David Cameron announces £6 million Heritage Lottery scheme to help mark First World War centenary, Heritage Lottery Fund, 11/10/2012, http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/6mlotterymoneytohelpmarkFirstWorldWarcentenary.aspx; See also, Women prisoners breaking cycle of reoffending thanks to Lottery support, Big Lottery Fund, 10/16/2012, http://www.nof.org.uk/global-content/press-releases/england/south-east/women-prisoners-breaking-cycle-of-reoffending-thanks-to-lottery-support.

  46. International Olympic Committee, http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Women_in_Olympic_Movement.pdf.

  47. International Olympic Committee, Olympic Charter, in force as of 8 July 2011, Rule 2 Mission and Role of the IOC, Paragraph 7; http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf.

  48. International Olympic Committee, Olympic Charter, in force as of 8 July 2011, Rule 2 Mission and Role of the IOC, Paragraph 7; http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf.

  49. International Olympic Committee (IOC), Fact Sheet Women in the Olympic Movement, updated June 2012, http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Women_in_Olympic_Movement.pdf.

  50. International Olympic Committee (IOC), Fact Sheet Women in the Olympic Movement, updated June 2012, http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Women_in_Olympic_Movement.pdf.

  51. International Olympic Committee (IOC), Women and Sport Commission, http://www.olympic.org/women-sport-commission?tab=Mission; 1995 the Women and Sport Working Group was established and became fully commissioned in March 2004.

  52. International Olympic Committee (IOC), Women and Sport Commission, http://www.olympic.org/women-sport-commission?tab=Mission; 1995 the Women and Sport Working Group was established and became fully commissioned in March 2004.

  53. Women’s Sports Foundation, http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/.

  54. The Guardian, Supra.

References

Articles

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  • National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), women’s ice hockey league established in 1999, but ended in 2007.

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  1. T.M.C. Asser Instituut, R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20-22, 2517 JN, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Karen L. Jones

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Correspondence to Karen L. Jones.

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Researcher/Academic Programme Coordinator, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, Asser International Sports Law Centre, The Hague, Managing Editor, The International Sports Law Journal (ISLJ), Course Developer, Lecturer, Legal Aspects of Sports Law, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Amsterdam University, International Sports Management Program, and John Marshall Law School (Chicago), International and Comparative Sports Law, International Business and Trade Law Program. Owner, Policies Etc Strategic Services.

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Jones, K.L. Women’s national leagues: does CEDAW go far enough?. Int Sports Law J 13, 35–44 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40318-013-0009-1

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