Sports for Gender Equality: How Play Can Power Social Change

From football fields to kabaddi courts, sports are transforming how girls claim agency and leadership. Learn how design-led, evidence-based programs like CEQUIN’s Kickstart Equality and Terre des Hommes’ Kabaddi for Gender Justice are advancing gender inclusion in India.

Picture Credits: Centre for Equity and Inclusion (CEQUIN)

When Bismillah’s grandmother began pressing for an early marriage, Bismillah chose a different path. She sought help from a friend who was working in a local NGO, and enrolled in their Kickstart Equality program, where football became her way to stand taller in public life. Match by match against neighbouring villages, she earned applause at home and respect in her lane. Her mother started sharing Bismillah’s wins with the very grandmother who had once urged marriage, and the village began to see her first as an athlete. Today, Bismillah radiates happiness as she embraces her passion for football and enjoys unwavering support from her family and community. The pressure to marry young has given way to pride in her ambition, and she is pursuing her goals on her own terms—confident, visible, and hopeful. Bismillah’s is journey is a powerful testament to the strength of a young girl’s determination to defy societal norms and pursue her dreams. (CEQUIN, 2024)

The Beijing Platform for Action (1995) underscored sport as a powerful tool for advancing gender equality, while simultaneously challenging harmful gender norms. Sports for Development is a method of bringing about social change through sports. It combines physical engagement with mentorship and guided learning, which not

only sharpens athletic ability but also develops life skills: negotiation, resilience, decision-making, and leadership amongst young people.

Globally, millions of youth have benefitted from sports for youth development initiatives, ranging from major multilateral programs to local and national efforts. In India, many organizations are using sports as a tool for challenging regressive social and gender norms.

Research highlights the importance of intentional program design that integrates three core components: a strong philosophical foundation; evidence-based teaching techniques incorporating pedagogy and instructional methods; and carefully structured activity frameworks that include planned sessions and practices. (Matsh, 2025 ) In the next section, we highlight two partner projects demonstrating the power of sports to bridge entrenched gender gaps.

Goals Beyond the Field

CEQUIN started the Kickstart Equality football program in 2011 with 25 girls, eventually growing to engage over 250,000 girls across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan. These adolescent girls faced mobility restrictions, school dropouts, early marriage pressures, and limited access to health services in tough urban and peri-urban pockets.

In response, CEQUIN designed its intervention as a sports for development model—anchored in football and strengthened by life-skills sessions and community engagement. Leadership development, health awareness, educational attainment, and employability were woven together with the goal of delaying early marriage. During 2023–24, 2,265 individuals were covered, including 1,130 girls, 705 boys, and 430 women.

At the end of the intervention year, impact evaluation results showed tangible progress. Across the three states, girls stepped into leadership roles and used theirvoices more consistently. Schools recorded better attendance, stronger retention, and higher participation, including a clear rise in participation in physical-education classes. More than 30% girls aspired to complete their post-graduation, and families are having conversations at home about careers, education, and financial independence (Delhi and Rajasthan), about clothing norms and gender-based violence (Haryana); and about questioning the practice of early marriage (Rajasthan). On the pitch and at home, over 97% girls reported higher stamina and strength, health-seeking behaviour increased, girls began exploring non-traditional

career paths, and mothers showed greater awareness of the legal age of marriage. Taken together, these shifts point to a steady and measurable movement toward gender equality.

Kabaddi for Gender Justice, West Bengal

Since 2019, Terre des Hommes; Praajak have collaborated across three districts in West Bengal- Siliguri, Malda, Berhampore in communities where girls face unsafe migration and trafficking risks, early marriage, and a shortage of safe public spaces. Their intervention used kabaddi, a local and low-cost sport, to help girls reclaim public space and confidence. The initiative paired play with Study Circles that reinforced learning on gender-based violence, child safety, and livelihoods.

The results of this impact evaluation were powerful: by the end of the program, 81% of girls reported confidence in speaking in groups, 70% had tournament exposure, and 10% now aspire to sports-related careers (up from 0% at baseline). Awareness of government schemes and child-protection pathways also grew substantially.

Through their design-led approach, these projects demonstrate how sports for development can systematically challenge gender norms, expand agency, and promote gender equality. Niiti is proud to serve as the evaluation partner for such inspiring social innovation projects that are redefining possibilities for girls and communities alike.

You can read the two reports here:

 CEQUIN’s Kickstart Equality- Bridging the Gender Gap

 Terres des Holmes-Promoting Gender Justice and Equity using Kabaddi in Girls and Adolescents in West Bengal

Ready to turn play into measurable gender-equity outcomes? Let’s co-design or evaluate a sport-for-development program that moves the needle—on classrooms, careers, and community norms. Write to us at info@niiticonsulting.com