Soroptimist club and the Municipality of Rimini sign the ethical charter for women’s sport
November 25, 2024
As part of the national Soroptimist International project “Women and Sport” aimed at promoting the value of sport and gender equality, the Soroptimist club of Rimini has launched dedicated actions and moments of reflection and discussion with experts and athletes of various disciplines. A project which, among its various actions, included the promotion of the “Ethical Charter for Overcoming Gender Gaps and Discrimination in Sport”, created by Soroptimist International of Italy together with Assit.
The signing took place today, Monday 25 November, in the Council Hall in the presence of the Councilor for Sport Michele Lari and the deputy mayor Chiara Bellini, together with the president of Assist Luisa Rizzitelli, Rodolfo Zavatta (Coni Rimini), Lino Celli and Claudia Petrosillo ( Uisp Rimini), Fabio Ceschi (River Delfini 2018), Gianluca Riguzzi (Panathlon Rimini), Alessia Valducci (president of New Rimini Baseball) and some members of the Club.
The Charter, drawn up by Assist, the National Athletes Association, and updated in 2023, was created for the protection of the rights of female athletes and has among its objectives: raising awareness on issues concerning equal opportunities and rights in sport, the use of a language inclusive gender and the promotion of sporting culture in general. A document that constitutes a commitment, on the part of the Municipalities that adopt it, to ensure gender equality in the sports field and to develop policies and actions to enhance the practice of sports also by girls and women. The commitment also concerns prevention and the fight against harassment and abuse in the sporting sector thanks to awareness and communication projects, in networking with public institutions, promoting cultural and training courses for the development of cultural processes aimed at greater inclusion in the sporting sector.
A document that is not limited to being a declaration of intent, but provides operational mechanisms that guarantee the real application of the principles stated, also becoming support for practical aspects such as: criteria for using sports facilities, data collection, communication, support for athletes and evaluation of the results achieved.
“I am very happy that the Municipality of Rimini wanted to adopt the ethical charter for overcoming gender discrimination in sport – underlines the president Luisa Garribba Rizzitelli of ASSIST National Association of Athletes – I am sure that Assist with the Soptimist Rimini will be able to monitor that every point of the paper becomes implementable and a harbinger of increasingly effective policies. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done today for equality in sport and our commitment closely affects the territories, sports associations and citizens. The ethics charter is an example of a pragmatic and effective tool of how every single point must be addressed to guarantee respect and gender equality in sport. We are certain that this will happen more and more in the Municipality of Rimini.”
