Fed: Govt meanness pressures sports women to pose nude - ALP
CANBERRA, Aug 15 AAP - The federal government was forcing female athletes to pose nudeto attract sponsorship dollars by ignoring women's sport, Labor sports spokeswoman KateLundy said today.
Senator Lundy said since coming to power in 1996, the government had scrapped a numberof women's sport programs and support services, including the Prime Ministerial Womenin Sport Award.
In 1999-2000, female participation in sport had dropped by 5.4 per cent, hitting sportssuch as basketball, netball and soccer hard.
"This is a direct result of policy inaction by the Howard government," Senator Lundy said.
"Consequently, some female athletes are being pressured to pose nude or in revealingoutfits in order to garner sponsorship dollars and a higher profile for their sport."
A prime example was the revelation this week that the cash-strapped Australian women'ssoccer team, the Matildas, had been pressured into appearing topless for a foreign toothpastetelevision commercial.
Senator Lundy said the government had ignored a 1996 report on how to improve the coverageof women's sport in the media, with the result that female athletes continued to suffer.
"The coalition has a clear responsibility to address the gender inequities, includingthe structural, cultural and financial barriers confronting sportswomen," she said.
A spokesman for Federal Sports Minister Rod Kemp said since the introduction of thesports funding component of the Backing Australia's Ability package, spending had increasedon all sport, including for women.
He said backing of the women in sport unit at the Australian Sports Commission hadbeen boosted by almost $500,000 for the period until 2005.
"In addition, all program areas across the ASC are increasingly targeting funds specificallyto address gender issues," Senator Kemp's spokesman said.
AAP rft/sw/jnb
KEYWORD: SPORT WOMEN
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