By Rohini Balram, author of Young Indo-Fijian Women Breaking Barriers in Fijian Sporting Spaces: An Arts-Based Approach

Sport is not equally accessible to all women. For minority groups of women in the Global South, participating requires navigating gendered expectations and stereotypes, cultural norms, racial biases, institutional barriers, and dominant sporting discourses. 

The Paris 2024 Olympics reached gender parity among athletes, yet only 13% of Olympic coaches were women. Sport’s power structures remain deeply gendered and racialized, and for marginalised and minority women—such as Indo-Fijians in Fiji—barriers are not only higher, they multiply. 

Navigating Intersecting Challenges

Indo-Fijian women are often constrained by patriarchal norms, which emphasise modesty, education, religious observance, and domestic skills such as cooking and cleaning. Matriarchs and Indo-Fijian academic teachers act as cultural gatekeepers, upholding “proper woman” standards and ensuring young women conform.

Indo-Fijian girls in my study described school experiences of racism and racial stereotyping, where Indigenous PE teachers, influenced by their own cultural heritage, dismissed the girls’ sporting abilities. Some were labeled “butterfingers” simply for dropping a ball, overlooking their potential. One participant emphasised the unfairness of this judgment: “I love kicking balls (playing soccer), not catching them,” yet her body was deemed weak and unfit for sports, denying her the opportunity to pursue her interests.

As descendants of indentured labourers, Indo-Fijians are still seen as outsiders, excluded culturally and nationally. Religious differences add another layer of marginalisation: most Indigenous Fijians are Christian, while Indo-Fijians are primarily Hindu, with smaller numbers of Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. Institutional and systemic barriers further amplify these challenges, privileging dominant sporting discourse (such as rugby) and Indigenous bodies and voices in the Fijian physical culture. 

A History That Still Echoes

Indo-Fijians’ exclusion from Fiji’s sporting culture is deeply tied to colonial history. In 1879, the British brought around 60,000 Indian labourers to work on Fiji’s sugarcane fields under harsh conditions. Colonial policies segregated Indians from Indigenous Fijians, giving the latter land and political rights while excluding the migrants. Schools mirrored this divide, limiting Indo-Fijian boys’ access to elite institutions dominated by rugby—a sport central to Indigenous Fijian masculinity and nationalism.

Today, rugby and the military—both dominated by male Indigenous Fijian Christians—continue to wield cultural, social, and political influence, marginalising those who fall outside these dominant racial, gender, religious, and sporting norms.

Silent Acts of Resistance: Field Insights

Young Indo-Fijian women in my study shared that they play netball at school, some participate in social soccer and rugby, while others, excluded from team sports, train alone in gyms and public spaces. To be accepted in mixed-race teams, these young women often feel pressured to mimic the dominant group’s behaviours, adopt their language, and even compromise aspects of their religion—simply to exercise their basic human right to play.

Indo-Fijian women who defy cultural norms risk being labeled “slut”, “tomboy” or “not a proper woman,” often by their own mothers, aunties, female teachers, peers, and colleagues—the cultural gatekeepers. As a result, many sporting women lead “double lives”: upholding traditional femininity at home and in social settings, while embodying traditionally male athletic ideals—individualism, competitiveness, aggression, and power—when they play sport.

Despite gender policing, structural barriers, racial stereotypes, limited culturally sensitive programs, and the absence of role models and media coverage, sporting Indo-Fijian women are challenging the status quo simply by stepping onto Fijian sporting fields. In doing so, they defy assumptions about physicality, masculinity, and athletic ability. Their courage resonates with that of their indentured female ancestors—once dismissed as voiceless, low caste, and immoral, yet pivotal in bringing an end to the indenture system.

Reimagining Sport for Development and Peace through Arts-Based Research

In my study of Sport for Development and Peace (SfDP) in Fiji, I used arts-based, visual, and reflexive ethnography to capture the complexity of Indo-Fijian women’s sporting experiences. Through poems and photographs, participants expressed concerns about body image, menstruation, interfaith and interracial relationships, separation, pregnancy, and divorce—while also evoking memories and emotions. This multi-method approach revealed insights that traditional interviews alone could not. I wove participants’ words into creative non-fiction pieces that presented their lived experiences in interconnected ways, amplifying their voices in public discourse.  Arts-based research methods helped create culturally safe spaces for this vulnerable community and highlighted emotions, tensions, and aspirations often overlooked in mainstream sport and education research.

What Policymakers and Higher Education Can Do

• Fund intersectional research to guide inclusive sport and education policies. 
• Support grassroots programs that expand access for marginalised women and girls. 
• Promote diverse women’s inclusion in coaching, leadership, and media. 
• Train policymakers to understand intersectional barriers to participation. 
• Embed community-engaged research in universities, mentor diverse scholars, and elevate marginalised voices.

Why Social Science Matters in Oceania and Beyond 

Gender inequality in sport does not exist in isolation but is shaped by intersections with race, culture, migration, class, religion, colonisation, geography, and dominant sporting discourses. Intersectional sociological research reveals the layered challenges and compounded barriers women face across sport, education, and public life. Sociological perspectives and tools are essential for creating culturally sensitive and inclusive strategies that enhance visibility, promote equity, and foster belonging for marginalised communities. In an increasingly diverse Australia, with growing migrant and refugee populations, arts-based sociological methods are more vital than ever. Cutting support for university sociology departments undermines the very tools needed to understand and shape society. Far from being “soft,” these disciplines are critical for driving meaningful social change.

Rohini Balram is an arts-based researcher and sports sociologist with a PhD from Western Sydney University, Australia, where she is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI).