School of Social and Political Science

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Emily Cameron-Blake, a PhD student at the School of Social and Political Science (SPS), has been working with UNESCO to develop and launch a project tackling violence against women and girls in sport.   

The project’s goal is to create a shared understanding of the problem of violence against women and girls in sport and to support the development of effective policies to tackle it. Its recent output, a UNESCO handbook ‘Tackling violence against women and girls in sport: a handbook for policy makers and sports practitioners’, is aimed at policy makers, sports practitioners, sports journalists and civil society organisations who want to do more to ensure that women and girls across all social groups can practice sports safely. 

Emily, a PhD student in health and sport policy at SPS, peer-reviewed and provided recommendations for this handbook before its release, and was subsequently invited to sit on a panel marking its publication. The panel was part of UNESCO’s International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport, which took place from 26 to 29 June this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

Previously a member of the Canadian National Rowing Team for seven years, Emily has been involved in a number of projects with governments and with national sport organisations in developing policies and procedures that ensure the health and wellbeing of athletes. She is also a member of the Maltreatment in Sports Sanctions Council, part of the new Abuse-Free Sport programme, which aims to address and prevent maltreatment in sport in Canada.  

(Pictured above: Emily (left) on the UNESCO panel on tackling violence against women and girls in sport.)