DISABILITY-BASED INEQUALITIES IN ELITE SPORT: THE PERSPECTIVE OF DEAF FEMALE ATHLETES IN CROATIA

Many factors contribute to the disadvan- tage of women in sports, which are certainly even more pronounced when considering the position of women with disabilities. Hearing impairment is mostly defined as “hidden disability”, not only due to lack of visible symptoms, but also due to long-term stigmatisation and political neglect. The research problem of paper was to study possible inequality in the gender distribution be- tween top Croatian athletes with disabilities (deafness) and without disabilities, and to direct further analysis towards the specificities of deaf female athletes. The sample of respondents consisted of 322 athletes of both gender who had a valid decision on allocating the athlete to the first category by the Croatian Olympic Commit- tee and the Croatian Deaf Sports Association. The main results show that there are differences in gender distri- bution among top Croatian athletes with regard to the sports system. The difference obtained is in line with the assumption that there will be significantly fewer top deaf female athletes compared to top female athletes without disabilities. Special attention was given to the analysis of the specifics of deaf female athletes (age, region of resi- dence, and number of sports with regard to classification, Olympic status and category). Women of all ages with any type of disability are generally among the more vul- nerable and marginalized populations in society, there- fore their problems need to be taken into account in all strategic processes in order to protect and promote their human rights and, where necessary, eliminate inequali- ties between women and men.