An initiative by Wiki Movement Brazil (WMB), Football Museum, and UN Women aims to promote gender equality in sports: the Brazilian Women in Sports Wiki Contest aims to reverse historical inequality and provide visibility for women in sports. The contest is an act of reparation in the face of a past marked by restrictions, as Brazilian women faced a legal ban on playing football between 1941 and 1979.
“Brazilian women were forbidden to play football by law between 1941 and 1979, which helps explain gender inequality in football – but not in other sports, where there was no prohibition. The factors are complex and manifold, and increasing the visibility of athletes, as in the Wiki Contest, is an important reparative measure,” explains Marília Bonas, technical director of the Football Museum.
Understanding the complexity of these factors is essential to progress towards equity in sports, but it is not enough; hence, the Wiki Contest aims to reduce the enormous gender inequality that exists on Wikipedia. In Brazil, there are 4,457 articles about male football players. Among women, there are only 156 articles. The discrepancy continues in other sports: in basketball, there are 162 articles about male athletes compared to 65 about female athletes.
Gender equality is one of the pillars of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this Wiki Contest aligns with this goal, as well as SDG 5. This SDG seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. UN Women, which works to promote gender equality in sports, supports the initiative.
Ana Carolina Querino, Deputy Representative of UN Women, emphasizes: “UN Women has led various initiatives to promote gender equality in sports and through it. A priority pathway to challenge social norms that have historically kept girls and women away from sports is precisely the creation and promotion of respectful and stereotype-free content about athletes, promoting their achievements and sporting performance, and allowing these women to become role models and sources of inspiration for society as a whole.”
This historic challenge is confronted by Wikipedia, an important tool for democratizing information on the internet. The Wiki Contest calls on the Wikipedia editing community to actively contribute to the creation and improvement of articles related to women in sports, providing a close look at their trajectories and achievements.
Érica Azzellini, community manager of Wiki Movement Brazil, reinforces: “Wikipedia is a fundamental platform for the democratization of information, and the expectation is that this collective effort will have an impact on how the trajectories of Brazilian women in sports are made available to a wide audience. Both those who already edit and those who are interested in learning how to edit Wikipedia are welcome in the contest, also as a way to learn more about the women in our sports.”
How to participate?
The top five contributors with the highest volume of edited content will receive gift card prizes (see below), as well as a shirt from the Brazilian Women’s National Football Team (fan model) and an exclusive contest kit. Additionally, from 1st to 30th place, participants will also receive invitations to visit the Football Museum for free.
Throughout the contest, workshops and live sessions will be held with tips on reliable source research and article editing.
Gift card prizes:
1st place: R$ 2,500
2nd place: R$ 1,500
3rd place: R$ 500
4th place: R$ 300
5th place: R$ 200
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