A new consensus statement published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine highlights the need for comprehensive and gender-specific measures to reduce injury risks among female athletes. The Female/woman/girl Athlete Injury pRevention (FAIR) Consensus Statement is described as the first of its kind, offering 56 recommendations based on available evidence and athlete experiences.
The increase in women's participation in sports has been accompanied by a rise in injuries, but experts note that there is still a lack of practical, gender-specific guidance to address these risks. To address this gap, the International Olympic Committee brought together sports and exercise specialists from around the world to develop recommendations aimed at informing policy, practice, and future research.
The recommendations cover a wide range of areas including primary injury prevention strategies, policy and legislation, personal protective equipment, training practices, secondary prevention measures, modifiable risk factors, and approaches to diversity and inclusion.
"Injury prevention strategies cannot work if female/women/girl athletes do not have access to resources, knowledge or training/competition environments that support implementation of best practice injury prevention, health, and performance strategies that consider their needs," states the FAIR Consensus Statement.
It continues: "The FAIR recommendations to facilitate a supportive environment include creating equitable funding and resource allocation (eg, injury prevention implementation, equipment, coach/support staff, gender/sex-preferred uniforms and surveillance systems with female/woman/girl-specific health codes) and access to expertise and knowledge through education, targeted research and hiring practices."
The statement calls for everyone involved in sport to participate in implementing these changes. It emphasizes: "Recommendations such as 'Create safe spaces free from body shaming or promoting ideal body types, or gendered norms' might appear sensible, but they are NOT always part of female/woman/athletes' reality. They should be front-of-mind and non-negotiable. At all levels of sport, responsibility must be taken for actions that can influence female/woman/girl athlete health."
Additional recommendations focus on enforcing policies against interpersonal violence and harassment; fostering open discussion about topics like pregnancy or bone health; addressing biases against women’s participation; starting lifelong injury prevention early; collaboration between athletes and coaches; mandatory neuromuscular warm-ups; enforcement against unlawful contact; required mouthguards for young hockey players; helmet use across various sports; neck protection in collision ice sports; among others.
"We recognise that these recommendations must be responsive to diverse contexts, including uniqueness in experiences, expertise, geography, culture, healthcare access, sport structure, level of participation and sociocultural considerations," says the Statement.
It concludes: "To bolster female/women/girl athlete health and safety every person (at all levels of sport participation and in their own specific context) can,and should,take responsibility to carefully considerand action these recommendations."
