Hey'ya Arab Women in Sport

Hooray for the Metro newspaper!  I was reading it on the Bakerloo line heading to Casa Brazil in Somerset House when I saw that they recommended this exhibition in Sothebys, nearest tube Oxford Circus. So out I jumped at the aforementioned stop and managed to visit a good portion of the Middle East in one go.

The exhibition comprises of a series of photos and interviews with sportswomen from Muslim countries.

Women in sport is quite a topical issue at the moment. This is the first ever modern Olympics where women have been allowed to compete from every country.

Lizzie Armstrong who won a cycling silver medal this week used her interview to highlight continuing discrimination against sportswomen in the UK.  So, as you might imagine, some of the women interviewed in this exhibition have had a hard time of it and several mentioned challenges they face. These ranged from criticism that sport makes you less of a woman (Sudan), a lack of facilities (Morocco), sport not being a subject taught to girls in schools (Saudi Arabia) and the risk of being murdered by Islamic extremists (Somalia).

It was inspiring to see so many young women talking about how much they loved their sport and some of whom were realising their dreams by representing their country in the 2012 Olympics.