In general, in a male dominated world, the colour pink inherently veer towards the fairer sex. At the same time, the entire Olympic world, is more than serious on Gender Equality/Gender Equity. The IOC and its allied organisations are keen to put these initiatives in action and are in the process of encouraging all member National Olympic Committees to organise activities to educate and make understand its sporting populace on the above. 

 

So much so now it is considered as one of the top most agendas in the Olympic Charter. 

 

Pink Volleyball concept in Sri Lanka was conceived to carry on this message and Volleyball, being the National Sport of the country, got the initial nod to spread gospel.

 

The three-week long programme is being rolled out in the following stages - TOT workshop for the Technical Staff, Stake Holders Meeting, Technical Workshop, Coaching Camp followed by the Pink Volleyball Day.

 

On Friday, May 12 the penultimate programme (prior to June 17 -- Pink Volleyball Day), was held at Seevali Vidyalaya Basketball Auditorium, Ratnapura to take on board fifty school coaches and ten supervising staff.

 

The Pink Volleyball first stage is confined to the Sabaragamuwa Province. Within the seven divisions in the said province, initially the programme will be introduced among 600 school children.

 

The programme got underway with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka making a detailed presentation on Gender Equity and why the Olympic Council of Asia has more emphasis on this segment.

 

This was followed by the President of the Volleyball Federation of Sri Lanka and Vice President NOC SL Kanchana Jayaratne explaining to the gathering saying, “Pink Volleyball is not a Volleyball Tournament. It also not a training programme or a technical programme. This is an accented programme organised by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka under the auspices of the OCA.

 

“Under this programme it is our responsibility educate the Volleyball playing public and especially, the up and coming generation of spikers, to know how Gender Equity works and how they enhance their scope by knowing their rights.

 

“The presentation spelled out by the NOC SL is very insightful and we are hoping to have this presentation in all seven divisions so that when the big-day arrives on June 17, every participant would know what really they mean by Pink Volleyball.”

 

Explaining Gender Equity

 

Two guiding principles are at the core of gender equity: fairness and impartiality. Fairness has to do with just treatment without favoritism or prejudice, while impartiality is defined as treating all parties equally. Equity, in its simplest terms, means meeting communities where they are and allocating resources and opportunities as needed to create equal outcomes for all community members. Gender equity is important because, historically, societies around the world have deemed females, transgender people, and no-binary people as “weaker” or less important than males.

 

Today, gender equity has helped shape and change the roles and expectations of men, women and all genders at work, home and in society. Our world is a better place when all people are accepted for their talents, skills, and abilities, regardless of gender.

 

What does gender equity mean?

 

The process of being fair to men and women. To ensure fairness, measures must often be put in place to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from operating on a level playing field. Equity is a mean. Equality is the result. (UNESCO)

 

What does gender equality mean?

 

The equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. (UN Women)

 

Examples of gender equity in sports

 

Women have made great strides in the world of professional sports, but the effort to close the pay gap has been abysmal. The WNBA has fewer games—36 per season—while the NBA has 82. Female professional basketball players work just as hard at developing their craft and only make a small fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries, while playing nearly 50% of the games in an NBA season. Such examples perpetuate discrimination and teach that gender roles are acceptable in modern times. Gender equity in sports is when all league athletes are given equitable opportunities. In the case of the WNBA and NBA, it means salaries and the number of games played are looked at from an equitable lens, instead of giving preference to male athletes.

 

Now the IOC and the OCA are developing various steps and have been very successful in enhancing female participation at international level. has achieved full gender parity for the first time ever for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Besides, they are making great strides in making sports people understand the importance of Equity and Equality.