Euro 2024 Fixtures Guide launched to highlight prevalence of violence against women as cases continue to rise around major football fixtures
3 out of 5 women experience sexist abuse in person when at a football game or in a pub, whilst cases of sexist chants have quadrupled in the last year, according to recent stats.
As a result, and with fan zones for the Euros popping up around the country, White Ribbon UK, a leading violence against women and girls prevention charity, and safeguarding brand imabi, have launched a Euro fixtures guide highlighting the prevalence of violence against women and girls in football.
Interspersed with important facts about sexist abuse in the sport and supported by advice on how to help, the guide is designed to get the attention of those who wouldn’t normally pay attention, while also offering ways that fans can make ‘the beautiful game’ enjoyable for all.
Anthea Sully, CEO of White Ribbon UK, said: “Everyone has the right to enjoy watching sports, including football matches, without the fear of violence, abusive language, or harassment. The upcoming men’s Euros tournament is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the good that can come from football and for men to show their allyship to women by making match screenings fun events for everyone. More and more men are challenging the use of harmful attitudes and behaviours towards women, both online and offline. This Euros, by showing your allyship, we can all end violence against women and girls.”
According to Her Game Too, nearly 60 percent have faced sexist abuse in person at football matches or pubs. Whilst, Kick It Out reports of sexist mass chanting quadrupled at the end of 2023.
In imabi’s own recent research, more than half (54 percent) of 2,000 respondents* also said they had witnessed inappropriate behaviour from others – with the most intimidating being unwanted physical contact (according to 65 percent of respondents).
Mark Balaam, CEO of imabi, a safeguarding platform that provides the technology behind safeguarding apps, such as the Railway Guardian, built for the British Transport Police, as well as dedicated school, workplace, community and anti-VAWG apps, said: “Domestic violence is an horrific side effect of football – but it’s not the only side effect. Incidents of violence against women and girls spike in other areas too. From sexist and misogynistic online abuse towards female supporters, to sexist mass chanting: women are all too often on the receiving end.”
The Euros guide not only highlights the upcoming fixtures, which supporters can use to follow and fill in the scores of England’s Group C games, but also raises awareness on the critical issues around violence against women and girls in football. Urging fans to foster a safer and more inclusive environment, the guide includes advice on what people can do in support of this:
- Enjoy the match responsibly: Are you being a team player, or ruining the game for someone else?
- Inclusive chanting: Chanting should be fun for everyone.
- Behaviour check: Would your behaviour pass a VAR check?
- Online conduct: Pull the red card on sexist comments, call it out and report it.
- Challenge inappropriate behaviour: Challenge sexist comments and harassing behaviour. A simple ‘That’s not ok’ can make a difference.
- Report incidents: Seen something inappropriate and need the ref to step in? Report it to a member of staff or police.
The launch of this guide is a step towards helping ensure football becomes an enjoyable and inclusive sport for everyone. By placing this essential messaging in a medium that is more relatable to those who need to heed it, White Ribbon UK and imabi are hoping to create a safer and more respectful football culture.
A digital copy of the Euros Fixtures Guide is available to download via the imabi website www.imabi.co.uk/euros-2024. Supporters can also order a physical copy of the guide via a donation, with any proceeds going towards a mix of White Ribbon UK and imabi’s charitable fundraising arm imabi Community CIC, a not for profit company that exists to help create safer communities and safeguard children in schools.
For more information on White Ribbon UK, please visit: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/
And for more on imabi, please visit: https://www.imabi.com/
About imabi
imabi is on a mission to creating safer, securer, and healthier communities for everyone, every day, everywhere. The platform tackles all forms of harmful behaviour, personal safety, wellbeing, and mental health issues across the education, businesses, and travel sectors as well as local communities.
imabi is named after the founders two daughters Imogen and Abigail, who he witnessed were growing up in an ever challenging and harmful world. He felt more needed to be done to protect them and millions of people around the world.
Taking reliable, real-time, and relevant information from trusted sources, imabi helps users to navigate life’s challenges — big or small, and across all sorts of circumstances. From bullying in education settings and harassment in the workplace, to needing appropriate mental health support and simply wanting to stay up-to-date with the world around us – imabi offers this support.
The platform’s powerful and ground-breaking technology provides a comprehensive suite of services and features through a range of user facing applications.
imabi is broken down into four key formats. imabi Inspire is aimed at students of all ages, imabi Pro focuses on keeping people safe in the workplace, imabi Community is aimed at creating safer, kinder societies and imabi Enterprise, through partnering with organisations, looks to target specific scenarios and needs – such as keeping people safe when travelling by rail.
imabi is actively tackling violence against women and girls, domestic abuse, unwanted sexual behaviour, workplace harmful and discriminating behaviours, and community improvement programmes.
About White Ribbon UK
White Ribbon is the UK’s leading charity engaging men and boys to end violence against women and girls. Through education, awareness-raising, and campaigning, White Ribbon aims to change the attitudes and behaviours that lead to abuse and violence.
