On Tuesday 17th June, the Gender Equality Commission chaired by Sanda Corak took place. All the experts in the sector were gathered together with her. Sanda Corak began by highlighting the important and necessary work that has been accomplished in recent years in the field of gender equality. "Everyone can contribute to the common effort and we can be proud of the progress we have made. There is still work to be done though. We must not relax our efforts."
Larisa Kiss, IJF Director of the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement for Judo, recently participated in an IOC meeting. "Judo is a very good student in many areas of gender equality. For example, when it comes to sport, we have the same number of events, the same prizes and medals, and the same media exposure. We also have our mixed team events. There are other areas where we still need to make progress."
"In the area of leadership, we still have work to do," explained Dr Lisa Allan, IJF Secretary General and former chair of the Gender Equality Commission. "We need to help federations integrate women much more in decision-making chains. Judo needs everyone. The election of a woman to head the IOC is a strong signal to the world of sport. It is important that we start thinking about the next generation of women as leaders."
The work of women's empowerment has already begun. Last year, the IJF launched a pilot project during the Abu Dhabi World Championships. A few days before the 2025 edition of the world championships, Saudi Arabia hosted the first official session of Strong Girls Judo (READ THE STORY). "It was an amazing experience for all of us, the experts as well as the participants. Thanks to the incredible expertise of Gabriela Mueller Mendoza, my colleague Denisa Deliu and Hedvig Karakas, who has been elected to the IJF Executive Committee, I think that we had a huge impact and all the women who participated were really interested. We believe that many of them will want to be involved with judo in the coming years. I can say that we learned as much as they did." Katiuska Santaella and Salima Souakri expressed their wish to be involved in the future, having their own inspirational stories to share.
Slavisa Bradic, expert of the IJF Academy, underlined that, "In October the IJF Academy will organise its first women-only session in Rome." Jean-Luc Rougé, Chair of the IJF Kata Commission, explained that "Kata is a little special, because in competition, we don't make any difference between men and women. Everyone competes together and it can be a great tool to develop judo for women." Estony Pridgeon, newly elected in the IJF Executive Committee, explained that in Africa, it was not compulsory to have a 50-50 ratio among the referees during the continental events, while Kate Corkery, IJF Vice-President, explained that there were many ways to be explored, to empower more women across the globe.
All the members of the Gender Equality Commission agreed to keep working hand in hand for the promotion of judo among women of all cultures and beyond the borders of gender. "Everyone has their place in our judo family, everyone can contribute and no-one should be afraid of having more women involved, quite the opposite. In 2025 we will co-ordinate with the World Judo Day theme too, that is PEACE. Women can bring and are bringing peace to society. In 2026, we are already planing activities for World Women's Day. Together women and men can build a better future," concluded Sanda Corak.