Italy has launched an initiative targeted to advance gender equality, fair representation, and safety in sport. The Working Group on Equal Opportunities and Combating Gender-Based Violence in Sport was established in July 2026 at the initiative of Italian Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, and held the first meeting in Rome. Its mandate is to assess existing challenges, propose structural reforms to national legislation as well as to internal sporting regulations, and contribute to a more gender-balanced and respectful sports system. To ensure strong institutional alignment, the group will work directly with the National Observatory for the Integration of Gender Equality Policies and the National Observatory on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
The working group brings together representatives of institutional stakeholders from the Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), the Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP), Sport e Salute, the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo e Culturale (ICSC) and other sport organisations, as well as Parlementarians representing the parliamentary majority and opposition.
The group is tasked with identifying and scaling up good practices to eliminate gender stereotypes, prevent physical and psychological gender-based violence and improve women’s participation in sport. The group will explore measures to strengthen the protection of female athletes, promote greater gender balance across the different components of the sports system, and support sustainable pathways for girls - from the early stages of participation in sports. The working group will examine how to strengthen the mechanisms to prevent, detect, and address physical and psychological gender-based violence at every level of sports.
The initiative reflects a growing recognition in Italy of the need to develop specific and coordinated policy and regulatory proposals and advance equal access to sports for girls and women.
Alongside this national policy initiative, the European Union - Council of Europe joint project “Active and Equal: Women’s Health in Sport across Generations” was featured on 24 August 2026 during the 47th Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples in Rimini.
The session “Women, Health and Sport: Towards Genuine Equality” (“Donne, salute e sport: verso una vera parità”) was hosted by the Italian Department for Sport at its institutional stand, and Antonio Parrilla, National Coordinator for Italy of the Active and Equal project, delivered a presentation entitled “Active and Equal: Understanding Differences, Ensuring Equality”.
The session generated lively exchanges on gender-sensitive sports policies and addressed women’s health across the life course. The exchanges in Rimini demonstrated the value of connecting national policy developments with European cooperation. By bringing together expertise and experience, Active and Equal can support the development and sharing approaches that respond to the specific needs of women and girls across generations.
The Sport Division of the Council of Europe welcomes the establishment of this working group and looks forward to strengthen its ongoing cooperation with Italian authorities, to foster inclusive, safe, and health-oriented sports systems across Europe.
