PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Women in Sport
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1593956
This article is part of the Research TopicWomen at the Olympics and Paralympics: Past, Present, and FutureView all 3 articles
Towards Equity? The Trajectory of Women's Participation in the Summer Paralympic Games (1988-2024)
Provisionally accepted
Luiz Gustavo Santos1
Beatriz Lucena Ramos2Vânia Tie Koga Ferreira3Ruth Eugênia Cidade4
Ciro Winckler2*- 1Brazilian Paralympic Committee, SAO PAULO, Brazil
- 2Parasport Study Center, São Paulo Federal University, Santos, Brazil
- 3Parasport Secretary, Brazil Sport Ministry,, Brasilia, Brazil
- 4Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
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Women's participation in the Paralympic Games has increased over recent decades, yet significant challenges persist. This study examines the trajectory of female athletes in the Summer Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2024, focusing on numerical growth and regional distribution. Employing a descriptive and comparative approach, data from the International Paralympic Committee were analyzed to assess participation by gender and continent across different editions of the Games. The results show a substantial increase in female representation, rising from 22.06% in 1988 to 44.48% in 2024. However, this progress has not been uniform. While Asia has experienced significant growth, Europe and the Americas saw a proportional decline in female participation. Africa, despite some progress, continues to have limited numbers. Additionally, the number of National Paralympic Committees without female athletes has increased, highlighting structural and sociocultural inequalities. The findings suggest that, although initiatives such as adopting the Brighton Declaration and expanding women's events have driven progress, barriers remain. The study concludes that regionspecific policies are essential for advancing gender equity in Para sport, ensuring greater access and opportunities for women with disabilities in high-performance competition.
Keywords: Women, Paralympic, inclusion, Disability, Sport disability
Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 06 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Santos, Ramos, Ferreira, Cidade and Winckler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ciro Winckler, Parasport Study Center, São Paulo Federal University, Santos, Brazil
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