Physical Education Teachers

5. Human rights in sport

Step 5 focuses on the importance of the relationship between human rights and sport in our modern world. Sport itself, both international and national, can play an extraordinarily significant role in advancing human rights, particularly among some of the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Sport and major sporting events can be used to promote awareness, understanding and the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sport can be considered as a universal language that contributes to educating people on the values of respect, diversity, tolerance and fairness and as a means to combat all forms of discrimination and promote an inclusive society.
The online resources will help teachers find valuable material to promote awareness and understanding of human rights and apply them in their physical activities.

Learning Objective

The objectives of Step 5 are to inform teachers about the importance of human right and to familiarize PE teachers with the relationship between human rights and sport in our modern world.

Online Resources

• Clotilde Talleu, Access for Girls and Women to Sport PracticesIt is a study on the participation of girls and women in Europe’s various sporting environments, focusing on access, obstacles and the activities involved.
• BBC: Ethics guide – SportThe site presents the practice of sport as a human right also dealing with its rules and regulations, use of drugs and body modifications, underdogs in sports, paralympics
• Celia Brackenridge, Children’s Rights in Football: Welfare and WorkCelia Brackenridge has studied children’s welfare and work situation in football in relation to some articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Article 12, which guarantees children the right to be heard and have their views taken into account. In her engaging and at times harrowing examination of how children are exploited and mistreated as part of the hysterical hunt for new football talents from around the world, Brackenridge also turns her attention to young football girls’ situation, and asks whether gender equality in this context will lead to girls being subjected to the same adverse treatment as boys.
• Kristin Fransson, Children’s Sport, a Question of Rights? Children, Childhood and the Swedish Sports MovementIn this article, Kristin Fransson analyzes current research on children, youth and sports with a view to establishing the present level of academic knowledge about the rights of children in sports.
• Resolution of Human Rights CouncilThe Resolution promotes awareness, understanding and the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through sport and encourges interactive panel discussion to highlight, examine and suggest ways in which sport and major sporting events, in particular the Olympic and Paralympic Games, can be used to promote awareness and understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the application of the principles enshrined therein.
• How You Play The Game. First International Conference on Sports and Human Rights, 1999The paper states the importance of the relationship between human rights and sport in our modern world. Sport itself, both international and national, can play an extraordinarily significant role in advancing human rights, particularly among some of the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable people.