3 | Human rights risks and challenges
•
Tournament security protocols creating
risks to privacy and safety. Transgender
people can be visibly different in their
presentation from non-transgender
people. Security culture can involve
viewing difference as suspicious or
dangerous. Privacy and security are at
odds for many transgender people (as is
also the case for some people with hidden
disabilities).
•
Heightened risks in cases of
intersectionality of identities and issues,
for example disabled trans people, or
LGBTQI+ people of colour, Brotherboys
and Sistergirls. These issues of accessibility
and racism have been discussed more
fully in other areas of the document.
(iii) Violence and alcohol-related risks
Multiple stakeholders noted that alcohol
consumption is linked with a range of risks and
harms, including physical violence. As previously
noted, stakeholders in the hospitality space
identified a particular set of risks relating to
excessive alcohol consumption, including escalation
of sexual harassment and abuse, and workers overserving due to a lack of employment support and
training.
Alcohol is well-recognised as a contributing factor
in the prevalence and severity of domestic or family
violence, with one Aotearoa New Zealand study
finding that one in three reported cases of domestic
violence are alcohol affected.61 Sporting events (and
home team losses) have been anecdotally linked to
increased incidents of domestic violence. However,
research indicates it is alcohol consumption
(including but not only at sporting matches), which
is a major contributor at all events where there
is high alcohol consumption to an increase in all
forms of violence.62 Advocates against family and
domestic violence have recommended the creation
of safe spaces, women-only spaces and/or alcoholfree districts at sporting venues.63
28
The New Zealand Health Promotion Agency has
carried out a study on the culture of alcohol
promotion and consumption at major sporting
events in Aotearoa New Zealand.64 The study
results ‘highlight[ed] the perception that there
is an entrenched, naturalised culture of alcohol
promotion and consumption at some sports events
in Aotearoa New Zealand’,65 but also noted events
which deliberately promoted a ‘family experience’.66
These included designated low-alcohol and alcoholfree seating areas, no alcohol brands as naming
sponsors, and public health ‘Ease up on the Drink’
messaging visible across the event.
(iv) Disruptions to the local community
Drawing on stakeholder feedback and the lessons
from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games,
there are a range of potential adverse human
rights impacts on the local community. These might
include disruptions to public transport and local
roads that particularly affect vulnerable people,
such as delivery of meal services to the elderly
or support services to disabled people, as well as
increases in the cost of living (the cost of housing
in particular) potentially pricing people out of their
local communities. Stakeholders also highlighted
the importance of transparency, accountability and
good governance around infrastructure planning
and delivery which has longer term implications for
local communities.
3.3 Cross-cutting
(a) Australia’s First Nations peoples
One of the most significant human rights issues
for FIFA and the local operating entities during
tournament preparation and delivery, will be the
recognition of and meaningful engagement with
Australia’s First Nations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples. Connections to lands and cultures
have special significance for First Nations and the
AHRC’s report Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices):
Securing Our Rights, Securing Our Future Report,67
underscores the importance of self-determination
for Aboriginal women and girls and strengthsbased community-driven approaches to addressing
disadvantage.