Supporter - SecUring sPORTs Education thRough innovative and inclusive Gender Equality Plans

SUPPORTER, “SecUring sPORTs Education thRough innovative and inclusive Gender Equality Plans”, is an EU-funded project running from April 2023 until September 2025. It aims to support eight sports higher education institutions from Central and Eastern Europe in developing their own intersectional, innovative, inclusive and impactful Gender Equality Plans, explicitly addressing gender-based violence and sexual harassment. While lauded for empowering youth and promoting inclusivity and team spirit, sport environments are also infamously known for being a ‘microcosm’ of sexual harassment and assault, idealising toxic masculinities, and for their inherent culture of violence. Studies also highlight European sports institutions’ incapacity to protect potential victims and overall provide equitable conditions to differently positioned inequality groups, including those based on age, disability, gender, gender-identity, ethnicity, nationality, race and sexual orientation and groups at the intersection of these inequalities. The situation is further exacerbated in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the region which SUPPORTER focuses on. SUPPORTER seeks to contribute to the advancement of inclusive gender equality in eight partner sports institutions across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Through tailored training and mentoring mechanisms provided by expert partners, the eight partner institutions will design intersectional, innovative, inclusive and impactful Gender Equality Plans, adapted to their situation.