Leah Williamson has warned that the fight for gender equality in football is at a “dangerous point” where actions aren’t matching words, as she issued the rallying cry: “We cannot go backwards.”
Speaking to The Independent for International Women’s Day, the Lionesses captain also opened up about the discrimination she and her team continue to face as women, and especially as female footballers.
But she struck a note of hope, believing the positive impact the Lionesses have inspired and created for women and girls is continuing, although she did caveat that its sustainability will not be known for at least a decade.
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In a call for action on tackling gender inequality in her sport, Williamson said: “I think right now we're at a dangerous point, because people want to be perceived as promoting the game, but actually what they’re doing isn’t matching up to that. So I think actions aren’t matching words at the minute.”
She continued: “What you hope is that the people in power are the ones who do what’s right in those circumstances and push in the direction that we think we’ve been travelling in, because any progress, regardless of how slow it is, is a win. We cannot go backwards.
“I hope that we’re still on the upward trajectory that we feel like we have been on – but who knows, time will tell us unfortunately.”
Following a serious knee injury that forced her to miss the Women’s World Cup, the 27-year-old has stepped back into the leadership role for England and Arsenal that has helped both teams stand at the forefront of the growth of women’s football.
The Lionesses now have their sights set on a second consecutive Euros title in Switzerland this summer, as they continue to push their message of championing societal change for women and girls – while the UK is now preparing to launch a joint bid to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
Speaking of the gender discrimination that she and her teammates have faced, Williamson said: “I think what we keep proving over and over again is that we're not willing to be quiet because of the opinion of somebody else. The discrimination I hope is happening less and less and less.
“Compared to a six-year-old child now that wants to get involved in the game, I hope they would have a very, very different experience compared to my own. [But] I would be lying if I [didn’t say] that every single day, even in the most subtle form, we're discriminated against.”
But Williamson said she has seen “lots of positive change” happening since the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 win, including in how men view the women’s game, and although there is still the question over how long it will last, she remains hopeful. “We won't really see the fruits of that for another 10, 15 [years],” she said. “But I hope that we have had an impact.”
She added: “I think that was what we realised we could have an impact on post-Euros success – it wasn’t just football, this was everything, and empowering women across all fields. We need the doors to be open, but we need to be strong enough to walk through them.”
Williamson understands her role off the pitch is as important as her defensive duties on it, and she made history when she became the first women’s footballer to address the UN in 2023, calling for an end to gender stereotypes in her sport and equality for women and girls playing around the world.
She said: “Sport has the power to bring lots of different people from lots of different backgrounds together.
“The UN was a great platform, a great opportunity to spread the message that we do want an equal opportunity. We're not asking for more or less, but the opportunity has to be there for us to be able to see how far it can go.”
Williamson used the platform to share her experience of helping refugees through the Save the Children x Arsenal Foundation’s Coaching for Life programme at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, and advocated for the girls she met there.
The camp is still home to more than 80,000 Syrian refugees after it was set up in 2012 in response to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war on 15 March 2011. The anniversary of the conflict is next week, coming at a time of extreme uncertainty, albeit cautious hope, for the country, after the ousting of its leader, the dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the toppling of his regime in a lightning-quick military advance in December.
Due to cultural norms in the camp, there was a real challenge to get girls involved in Coaching for Life – but now there are an equal number of girls and boys who have graduated from the programme, which aims to improve the mental and physical health of children affected by conflict and address deep-rooted gender stereotypes.
Speaking of her most memorable moments there, Williamson said: “Spending time with the girls on site, that’s memorable to me because we’re fighting for girls to play football in this country, let alone there in the refugee camp.
“I think the most memorable was, I had a conversation with the parents of the girls and one of the dads had really explained his circumstances. I’m already thinking it’s amazing that these girls want to play football in the camp – but you put into perspective that ultimately they battle with the choice of staying in a refugee camp that they’ve been in for too long that they don’t really see a way out of, or making the journey, which we know is dangerous, across countries, you don’t know what’s in store for you, you have to travel across water, just to get refuge.”
Asked about the threat to women’s rights seen around the world and the role she can play in the ongoing fight, she said: “I won’t stop, regardless of backlash or not, my goal stays the same – always – and it’s to be as visible as possible in the role that I’m in, because this didn’t exist once upon a time and not so long ago either.”
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