ABSTRACT

Women’s position in Papuan New Guinea (PNG) is surrounded by many social barriers, limiting their participation in sport. This chapter will focus on one of the resulting practical barriers, specifically how the lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities at sporting venues impacts on women’s participation in netball, a disproportionately popular sport amongst PNG women. We know that some women play sports despite the lack of facilities. However, many more women could be reached if their needs were accommodated and such facilities were in place. Our analysis will draw on data collected on WASH facilities at sporting venues as well as during focus group discussions with elite netball players and coordinators, and women and girls playing at a local level in PNG. We argue that the lack of WASH facilities represents a major obstacle that women must overcome to play sport in PNG and that further research is required to determine the impact at all levels of sport.