Norway target gender equality with proactivity: “Don’t let the market decide”

Norway are a leading handball federation when it comes to gender equality. Handball fans over the world know that there is almost a guarantee that every major championship will see the Norway women’s fighting for the medals, giving a public face to the focused strategies and efforts behind the scenes. But the Norwegian Handball Federation’s (NHF) approach and dedication to gender equality extends far deeper, beginning at the very top of the organisation and trickling down through every area.

In fact, activities surrounding A national teams account for only about five per cent of the NHF’s work. Much more important is the approach elsewhere, and the NHF have long held gender equality as a critical issue helping determine their direction in various areas.

NHF Secretary General Erik Langerud says starting within the federation, in terms of positions on the board and strategy plans naming gender equality as a priority, is key.

“The topic is really huge. There’s no quick fix in this,” says Langerud. “You need to start on the top and it needs to be in every part of the structure all the way from the top to the youngsters.”

The NHF are nearing the end of a strategy plan in place for 2022 to 2025, which includes gender equality as one of the most important goals. But the current plan is just one piece of the puzzle with how the NHF have approached gender equality, as it has been an important focus for decades.  

“This is our strategy plan for 2022 to 2025, but it has been in our plan since the beginning of 1990. It has always been a policy in the Norwegian Handball Federation that you should treat boys and girls, or women or men, equal,” says Langerud.

“But it’s very easy to say it. The difficult part is to do it and how you do it and where you do it and in which areas you do it and where you don’t do it, because equal doesn’t have to mean that it has to be 50:50. At some points, it’s 70:30 or 80:20 towards women or towards men.” 

For Langerud, one of the clearest markers of Norway’s success with implementing gender equality is the NHF executive board, which has women in seven of the 11 positions. “We are developing quite good in some areas, and some other areas are very difficult. For instance, I think the place we have succeeded is, if you look at our executive board, it’s more women than men.”

However, it was not easy to reach that point. Incorporating an increasing number of women into the NHF board involved a proactive decision to do so and then strategies and targeted efforts to ensure that occurred. The election committee were specifically tasked with seeking women for the positions.

“In Norway, we say you will always find if you look. The problem is that when you’re looking for board members, there are always a huge number of men,” says Langerud, whose experience says that as a general rule women may take more convincing than men to apply for such positions. Some extra effort may be required, but the outcome is more diverse voices in the decision-making processes determining every step forward a federation makes, and the reward is therefore well worth the input to reach a stage like the NHF.

“That is one area that I think we have succeeded a lot. It’s very different from many of my European colleagues, I think, and also different from many of the Norwegian sports — other federations in Norway.”

The NHF being a leader in sports in Norway is reflective of an important concept for Langerud: That the decision to prioritise gender equality must come from the federation itself and be included in strategy plans in order to make it happen, rather than waiting for others to set the tone. 

“I’ve talked to some of my European colleagues who said, ‘well the men’s team are up here and the women’s team are down here, so we can’t get TV production from women, we can’t get sponsorship for the women. It’s so difficult.’ What I told my European colleagues is if you let the market decide, then you will never get the equality you want,” says Langerud, who specifies that the NHF take the lead in areas like sponsorship, informing potential sponsors that most often funding will be divided according to the NHF strategy plan.

“If you always let the market decide, in many parts of Europe, you will never get enough money for the women’s team, so that’s why I say don’t let the market decide. You as a federation need to decide, because then you can make equality much faster. I know it’s very difficult, but you need to make at least a plan.

“You need to say that within the next three, five, seven years, our main goal is to have equal opportunities.”

The NHF have almost equal pay between the head coaches of the A national teams, with a little more on the women’s side due to length of employment and success. Langerud says these should be the kind of factors determining any difference in compensation, and never gender. Everyone, no matter gender, race, sexuality or socio-economic status, has a place in the NHF community, and to ensure that, the NHF have to make financial decisions and follow governance principles to match.

Langerud and the NHF are aware that they have a favourable position to implement gender equality due to government policies and in general the egalitarian society in Norway. That is when a federation can have an even more powerful role in taking the lead towards goals related to equality. Gender equality is one on the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, named on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 — which includes all European handball federations.

Therefore, no matter the situation in a particular country, we all have a responsibility towards these goals, and federations in nations where the government or national structures may not be leading by example have the chance to pioneer the movement. While Norway do have the positive situation of a society and government where equality has long been important, the NHF have still made it their own priority as well, and with that, have the chance to make daily decisions built on their longer-term goals and bigger picture focuses.

“Everybody is obligated to this by 2030. We need to start, because 2030 comes really fast. I understand that when I’m talking about this, I make it sound very simple. It’s difficult, but you need to make a plan. How should we implement gender equality in our federation? And what time do we need to do this? Because if we don’t do anything, it will never change. In some countries, you need laws. In some countries, you just do it because you want it,” says Langerud.

“You need to make a plan mostly because it’s good for your federation. You will develop better when you have gender equality. The sponsors will look at you more in a more positive way. The government, I hope, will do the same. But at least if the sports want an answer to gender quality and sustainability, United Nations goal number five, you need to make a plan.

“You need to realise that this is good for the sport. It’s not something that threatens you. It’s good for the sport to have gender equality.”

Langerud says 95 per cent of the NHF’s efforts are towards elements like developing structure in different regions within Norway, supporting clubs, grassroots, and so on. Two-thirds of NHF members are girls up to the age of 19.

“140,000 members, and 65 per cent are women — young girls and women. And I think they want to be led by women as well,” says Langerud, highlighting the importance of women in other roles in the NHF, such as coaching, managing and other leadership positions. Their participation can then encourage participation on the court, significantly contributing to growth of a federation. This is one area the NHF have encountered difficulty.

“There are lots of examples of things we have done,” says Langerud, naming the NHF policies on maternity leave as one important area of success. By providing support for the athletes in this area, the NHF have enabled top players to return faster to competition.

“What I think is more difficult is how we get more female coaches, more female managers, more females in the leading positions. That is much more difficult, I think. We educate a lot of women trainers, but what we can see is that many of them train young age categories up to a certain level, but for a national team, it’s more difficult to have them in.”

While Langerud is aware the NHF approach may not be applicable everywhere or elsewhere, it is not possible for anyone anywhere to ignore the topic of gender equality and other sustainable development goals. “I imagine that sometime in the next three, five, seven, 10 years, you will be met by the same requirements that I do now. Everybody will, because this is the way our community develops and the world develops. Europe, in many topics, goes in front, so it will meet us sometime anyway, so why not just do it now?

Photos © Kolektiff Images