Sports talk link to DV reduction

AN AFL ruckman should be known as a ruckperson and cricket batsmen referred to as batspeople under a push to reduce violence against women.

A university-led conference in Victoria has called for gender-neutral language to be used across all sporting codes at every level to help stem domestic violence. If it proves successful, the project would consign male-orientated titles on the sporting field to the scrapheap.

Researchers from Swinburne and Latrobe University have begun work on research linking sports to reducing violence against women.

And a roundtable of Victorian sport sector leaders including professional clubs, governing bodies and government partners met in Melbourne last week to further tackle the controversial issue.

A key recommendation was to “employ gender-neutral language across the sporting sector”.

“This is believed to discredit rigid gender roles and stereotyped constructions of masculinity and femininity,’’ the roundtable found.

The project was commissioned by the Office of Prevention and Women’s Equality.

Swinburne Associate Professor Emma Sherry said sporting codes had an important role to play in promoting gender equality.

“This will assist in developing strong design principles and guidelines for future gender equality and primary prevention initiatives in the Victorian sport sector,’’ she said.