The invisibility of women in legislations and National Conferences of sport and leisure in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Based on the premise that effective public policies can contribute to combating limitations in women’s access to, and participation in, different sports and related management positions, the public policies on sports and leisure for women in Brazil were analysed. This research uses the five most relevant Brazilian laws on sport and leisure, namely, Decree-Law 3,199/41, Law 6,251/75, Law 8,672/93, Law 9,615/98 and Law 9.981/2000 as well as the resolutions of the National Sports Conferences held in 2004, 2006 and 2010. Data were analysed based on Content Analysis. It was observed that in Decree-law, women were prohibited from participating in sports considered masculine, but this prohibition was not mentioned in other laws. At the Conferences, women’s participation was verified, in a general way, through social inclusion and guaranteed access to sports, independent of gender. The results evidenced the few actions focused on gender equity and the low presence of the word ‘women’ in legislation on sport and leisure in the country, which may imply the absence of sports-oriented public policies for women in various modalities. Moreover, the analysed documents are circumscribed by the representations of femininity and the roles socially constructed for women.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policy
• sport
• leisure
• laws
• women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Arthur Antunes Coimbra, also known as Zico, is a former Brazilian soccer player who played for many years at Flamengo, one of the highest-ranked teams in Brazil. As a player, he won the award for ‘best in the world’ in the years 1981 and 1983. In addition, he participated in three world cups for the Brazilian team and is a world record holder.

2. Like the first World Conference on Women and Sport, which resulted in debates and actions for an International Strategy for Women and Sports (Matthews, 2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giovanna Xavier de Moura

Giovanna Xavier de Moura is a PhD Student and has a Masters degree from the Physical Education Associated Program of the State University of Maringá (UEM)/State University of Londrina (UEL), Brazil. Giovanna is professor at Ingá University Centre (UNINGÁ) and participates in the Study Group of Sport and Leisure Public Policy (GEPPOL/UEM)

Alessandra Vieira Fernandes

Alessandra Vieira Fernandes has a Masters degree from the Physical Education Associated Program of the State University of Maringá (UEM)/State University of Londrina (UEL), Brazil, as well as a Bachelor degree in Psychology from the UFCG (Campina Grande), Brazil. Alessandra is responsable for the Applied Psychology Centre at Unipar and participates in the Leisure Study Group (GEL/UEM)

Fernando Augusto Starepravo

Fernando Augusto Starepravo has a PhD and a Masters degree in Physical Education from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil. Fernando co-ordinates the Study Group of Sport and Leisure Public Policy (GEPPOL/UEM) and is a Professor at the State University of Maringá (UEM).

Giuliano Gomes de Assis Pimentel

Giuliano Gomes de Assis Pimentel is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Coimbra and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (BR). Giuliano’s PhD and Masters degree are in Physical Education from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) Coordenates the Leisure Study Group (GEL/UEM). Giuliano is a Professor at State University of Maringá (UEM), Brazil.