The WRF’s strategic objective around gender equality calls for growing female participation at the World Championship to 50 per cent. The ultimate goal is to assist in removing barriers preventing women from participating in sport at all levels. This goal is reflected also in the introduction of the mixed category for the RX discipline.
REBECA FERNANDES, Vice President of the Associação Brasileira de Rafting, is a river lover and definitely an inspiring woman. She’s working in total agreement with our movement and she sends a letter to the Rafting World in this regard.
“Dear WRF,
Through many years of experience within competitive and commercial rafting, I come to present my company Mayim Rafting training for women, who has a new proposal regarding the training and qualification for women in Rafting.
Currently I dedicate myself to teaching and to the sport. The goal is to qualify the female gender through the development and adaptation of techniques in favour of the physical anatomy of the woman, to achieve her goals faster within the rafting. In my experience, woman needs physical and emotional resistance for the daily training that the activity requires.
Currently the sport and its proposed methods of qualification were developed by male gender majority.
Sometimes the mechanics creates discomfort for women in many factors such as the minimisation due to the reduction of the chest muscles and therefore the reduction of strength. Beyond that, there is the countless cases of harassment by colleagues, bullying due to clothing or simply because they are women.
Today I, Rebeca Fernandes, can see through my 16 years within the sport and international competitions, that the right moment for the strengthening of the female gender is now. I can also see that remained in the white-water world depends not only on a different qualification process, but also on a family environment, where women can feel welcome to develop their own techniques and skills without physical and moral harassment for simply having different anatomy and equipment that do not favour their practices.”
Straight forward women!
