Sports Participation and Rural Females: Social Taboos and the Role of Media, Society and Government

Abstract

Previous research shows that sports participation and physical activity enhances mental, psychological and spiritual health of young females. Contrary to the fact, social customs and fixed roles in family prohibit females from sports participation in developing countries including Pa-kistan. Moreover, weak sports arrangements in educational institutions and low government budget add fuel to the fire. From a careful review of literature, it has been observed that there is insufficient empirical evi-dence on the circumstances of rural women’s lack of participation in sports especially in educational institutions in Pakistan. As a result, this study focused on Government Girls’ Degree Colleges of Sanghar district to understand circumstances of female sports participation. The study carefully designed mixed research methods e.g. direct observation and in-depth interviews to draw detailed empirical evidence to reveal the truth. Through thematic analysis strategy, findings show that govern-ment colleges are ill-prepared and unprofessional with limited sports ar-rangements and budget. Most of the parents shown apprehensions and role of media seemed dubious in female sports promotion. In last section policy implications are discussed.