Our Impact on Policy and Culture
2024: Supported Afghan women at the Paris Olympics & Paralympics
through our partnership with Afghan International Olympic Committee Member Samira Asghari who uses her platform to advocate for the human rights to education and sports. We will help her build a cohort of exiled Afghan women athletes to keep a spotlight on the plight of the 21 million women and girls living under Taliban rule.
2023: Called on FIFA to stop abuse in women’s football
and met with a FIFA official at the 2023 World Cup in Australia where he confirmed that, following three years of discussion with stakeholders, FIFA had the funds and the intention to establish an independent safe sport entity.
In December 2024, FIFA announced a new Safe Football Support Unit which will be run under the auspices of The FIFA Foundation. Thus, it is not an independent and Equality League will pressure FIFA to honor its original agreement.
2023: Prepared a soft landing in the USA
in the women’s basketball community of Knoxville, Tennessee. We partnered with the UT Center for Sport, Peace & Society to help the 15 Afghan newcomers secure English language classes, homes, jobs, driver’s licenses, cars, and community. Group members arrived between May-July 2023.
2022: Established the Operation Hoops humanitarian mission
to safeguard the mental and physical health of the Afghan women athletes we helped to evacuate in 2021. When the group’s Canadian visa letters were not honored, we formed a coalition of several NGOs to advocate for a resettlement country. We appealed to the hosts of upcoming mega-sporting events including the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
2021: Partnered with FIFA to evacuate Afghan women athletes
who were at risk of persecution by the Taliban when they returned to power in August 2021. We helped 30 members of the Afghan women’s basketball community evacuate with a visa letter which got them through Taliban checkpoints and onto an aircraft, but Canada ultimately refused to honor the visa. After 40 days in the Qatar World Cup compound, FIFA arranged for them to live in Albania along the Adriatic Sea and await a final destination. They remained in limbo in Albania for nearly two years.
2020: Contributed to passing the “Empowering Olympians, Paralympians and Amateur Athletes Act”
which will lead to reforming the rules of governance for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, National Governing Bodies, Youth Clubs, etc. to provide greater protections and power to athletes. The act was signed into law on October 30, 2020.
Congress then appointed a Commission to study the Olympic and safe sport systems and their recommendations were submitted in March 2024. Our Youth Council will advocate for the adoption of the reforms.
Listen to the Youth Council’s Letter to Congress. Hover for the link: EQL Youth Council Letter to Congress 7 23 2020 - YouTube here
2020: Founded the Equality League Youth Council
during the Covid-19 pandemic. Student athletes advocated for new legislation to protect athletes from abuse in 2020 and to enforce Title IX in college sports in 2021. The Youth Council Ambassadors ranged in age from 12-18 and represented the sports of soccer, basketball, track, lacrosse, gymnastics, football, fencing, equestrian, and cheerleading.
2019: Contributed to overturning a 40-year-old Iranian stadium ban
to allow its 41 million women to watch men’s football matches in person. As members of a coalition, we managed the #NoBan4Women petition calling on FIFA president to uphold its own human rights policy to stop the discriminatory practice. We attracted 545,531 supporters worldwide. International and social media attention coupled with outreach to FIFA resulted in our Iranian activist-colleagues meeting the secretary general in November 2018 and FIFA President Infantino writing Iran football federation in June 2019 demanding a stop to the ban. Women were allowed into Azadi stadium on October 10, 2019.
2018: Contributed to passing The Protecting Young Athletes from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act
which enhances protections for millions of children from sexual abuse in sport. We supported Champion Women by attending Congressional hearings and creating a petition to attract media attention and 137,000 supporters. The act was signed into law on February 14, 2018.
Read a New York Times op-ed by EQL Special Advisor Jessica Howard: “USA Gymnastics must upend the twisted culture that enabled a sexual predator. Here’s what needs to change” here.
2019: Published an Open Letter to the Presidents of U.S. Soccer and FIFA
that called for Equal Pay and Prize Money for women in football worldwide. In the space of 48 hours, more than 100 multi-sector stakeholders signed the letter and serve as the base of our coalition continuing to advocate for gender equality. Read it here.
2018-2020: Partnered with Social Impact filmmakers
that included HBO’s “The Tale” and “At the Heart of Gold” films about child sexual abuse and with Creative Chaos on “This Changes Everything” documentary about women’s exclusion in Hollywood. We’re building bridges between sport and other sectors in which gender inequities persist.
Read an espnW article covering the event: HBO’s ‘The Tale’ truthfully depicts victim grappling with sexual abuse at the hands of a coach
2017: Contributed to overturning the FIBA hijab ban
so that Muslim women and girls do not have to choose between sport and religion. We supported affected athletes to amplify the issue with speaking and media opportunities as well as introductions to stakeholders that included players’ union leaders. We also partnered with Athlete Ally on an open letter signed by 50 top athletes from several sports. Read it here.