Georgia hosts workshop and speaks on panel at Include Summit in London
Georgia Theodoulou, the founder and lead for sports at Our Streets Now and an English lecturer at Coleg Sir Gâr, was invited to host a workshop and speak on a panel at this year’s Include Summit in London.
The include Summit is the UK’s largest conference focussed on equality, diversity and inclusion in sport. The Summit is a place to hear from leading voices across the sector, attent expert workshops and to connect with others who are passionate about driving change.
From grassroot sports clubs to professional teams, Georgia has been leading efforts to address the pressing issues on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the world of sports. Her work focuses on understanding and tackling harassment while improving how disclosures are handled and recorded across the sporting industry.
During the Summit, Georgia delivered a workshop on combating sexual harassment in sports and spoke as part of the closing panel on how to make sports safer for all.
Some attendees at her workshop included key figures from the English Institute of Sport, Rugby Union, Arsenal, Aston Villa, UK Sport and British Gymnastics.
In her workshop, Georgia delved into the complexities of sexual harassment within sports. “We know sexual harassment is bad and prevalent, particularly among young girls in schools and education settings. But the statistics jump to astronomical levels when you look at sports,” She shared.
The session explored why harassment often intensifies in sport, discussing dynamics like the athletes-coach relationships, the fear of isolation from teams, and the uncertainty surrounding the consequences of speaking up.
Georgia was also invited to speak on a panel addressing scandals in sports, such as the USA Gymnastics scandal. She raised concerns about safeguarding and welfare training in sports, highlighting current shortcomings.
“The problem with safeguarding,” she explained, “is that it focuses heavily on criminal-level behaviour like rape, sexual abuse, and neglect.
“But it doesn’t equip people to handle lower-level issues like misogyny, sexual harassment or gender-based and queer phobia. We need to start tackling these ‘lower-level’ issues if we want to eradicate the higher-level ones.”
Georgia’s message was clear: to prevent future scandals, sports need to improve training to handle difficult situations. “We all need to get better at having uncomfortable conversations,” Georgia emphasised, reinforcing the need for comprehensive education around harassment and discrimination in sports.
Looking ahead, Georgia and her team at Our Streets Now have ambitious plans. Next year, they aim to launch a young ambassador scheme, building on the success of their ambassador campaign with Charlotte Henshaw, a double Paralympic champion and Alan Sinclair, an ex-Team GB and world champion rower.
This initiative will recruit young advocates from universities and grassroute sports clubs, equipping them with the tools to lead change within their communities and beyond.
With a growing team and expanding initiatives, Georgia’s campaign is set to push further into elite sports, including premier league football and rugby union clubs, ensuring that safeguarding and harassment prevention become integral to sports culture at every level.
Georgia’s work is a powerful reminder that while progress has been made, there is still much to do to create a safer, more inclusive environment across all levels of sport.
