Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Addressing inequality and social justice

Misogynistic attitudes to women’s football

We’re now in a time of increased media coverage of women’s football. Dr Stacey Pope led research in collaboration with the University of Leicester and the University of South Australia to study male football fans’ attitudes towards women’s sports, surveying 1,950 men recruited from fan message boards.

The respondents could be split into three different groups: those with progressive attitudes towards women’s sports (24%), those with overtly misogynistic attitudes (the most dominant group at 68%), and those with covertly misogynistic attitudes (8%), expressing progressive views publicly but sexist views in private or male-dominated spaces. Many fans in the progressive group expressed that increased media coverage had changed their perceptions on women’s sports.

Press for the research’s findings had a global media reach of just under 2 billion, with coverage on over 450 media outlets, including a Sky Sports News interview with Dr Pope.

Dr Pope has also studied how and why people become fans of women’s football in an international collaboration with Dr Rachel Allison (Mississippi State University). Interviewing fans in England and the United States, they found that ‘mega events’ (Olympic tournaments, Women’s World Cups) were a key entry point for the majority of both US and English fans, usually after encountering them on television. Just under a quarter said their fandom developed online, while 42% of US and 16% of English respondents become fans after playing football themselves –this pathway existed only among women. The findings show the importance of media coverage in leading people to become fans of women’s football.

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42% of US and 16% of English respondents become fans after playing football themselves.

> in Physical Activity, Health and Society

Durham Law School

Impacting law across the globe

Global collaboration

In today’s globalised economy, an understanding of the social and legal relationships that link individuals, businesses, states and transnational institutions is essential, not just for economic advantage, but also to address the wider socioeconomic problems that arise. Studying law needs to be more than learning legal doctrine – it needs to have a broader international context. Our staff, half of whom are from outside the UK, aim to prepare students for a global future where the law has a crucial role in addressing today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

Our engagement with significant new legal orders is exemplified by our Centre for Chinese Law and Policy (CCLP), the largest centre for Chinese law outside Asia. The CCLP is a member of the Asia-Pacific and Europe Law Institutes Alliance, a recently established league that consists of a cohort of top institutions including the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and elite law schools in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. Currently, we’re establishing joint PhD programmes with prestigious Chinese universities.

We’re well connected with institutions in other growing and established economies. Recognising the importance of India as a legal and commercial hub, we’re developing a Centre in Indian Law, with rollout in 2023. We have active research linkages in Indonesia and Thailand, and a strong alumni network in the latter. Over 60 members of the Thai judiciary are alumni.

Our strengths go beyond jurisdictional focus: our world-leading research includes areas such as commercial and corporate law, socio-legal studies, human rights, comparative law, environmental and bio-law.

Resolving transnational disputes

We have a strong presence in Canada and the US. Our staff includes several faculty members who’ve trained and practiced in North America, and held visiting positions at institutions including Columbia, Harvard and Yale.

The expansion of cross-border investment and trade has led to increased and ever more complex relationships between businesses, investors, and states. When these relationships break down, arbitration is the most frequent means parties choose to resolve their dispute. We run an annual summer school on International Arbitration. Our programme is a unique combination of theory and practice, offering instruction on the theoretical foundation and principles behind arbitration, as well as practical instruction, including guidance on best practices in written and oral advocacy.

To ensure our graduates are best equipped for careers in a world challenged by social and environmental issues, we focus on climate change and sustainability, and developing an international legal regime to support these practices. The University holds permanent NGO observer status at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, enabling staff and students to play an active role.

Durham Global Environmental Law Lecture Series:

We’re offering a free lecture series on global environmental law, with insights from judges from around the world. As several international declarations and agreements reach milestone anniversaries, we explore the issues they address and the role they’ve since played in judicial decision-making.

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> Durham Law School

> Chinese Centre for Law and Policy

> Durham Law School events page

> International Arbitration news story