our projects

Equality League works strategically within the sport and rights ecosystem by partnering with NGOS and stakeholders in child rights, human rights, sports teams and foundations, athlete activists, and media to push transformative change that protects athletes from abuse, challenges discriminatory policies, and calls for equity in every arena.

supporting women and girls to attain their full power

Dear FIFA campaign for a child safeguarding policy

With one year remaining until the kickoff of the most-watched sporting event in the world, the FIFA World Cup 2026, child athletes from the Equality League Youth Council sounded the alarm on June 11, 2025: FIFA has failed to implement a child safeguarding policy—putting children at risk across 16 host cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Risks children can face at and around mega-sporting events include abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking and child labor.

When FIFA awarded hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup in 2018, child safeguarding was named a top priority. Yet with just 12 months to go, there was still no public policy, no visible progress, and no transparent plan to protect children who will attend, participate, or volunteer at the event.

Equality League Youth Council Ambassadors published a “Dear FIFA” video and a letter to President Infantino. Thus, a dialogue with FIFA began—including with FIFA leaders of Human Rights, Safeguarding, and the COO. To keep the pressure on, we published another video “Keeping Kids Safe at the 2026 World Cup” shared below.

The unprecedented access of children appealing directly to FIFA for their protection led to FIFA publishing a Child Safeguarding Statement and the New York/New Jersey Host Committee citing our work and sharing the explainer video. Our advocacy will continue until a dedicated Child Safeguarding Policy is in place.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING explainer video

With nearly 800,000 views, our Child Safeguarding explainer video has attracted interest and support from around the world. We are developing a coalition of stakeholders—from NGOs to athlete survivors, corporate sponsors, and everyday soccer fans—to push for the protection of children not only at FIFA’s World Cup tournaments but also for other FIFA-sanctioned events, activities and festivals involving children from U-6 (meaning under six years old) through U-18. Many thousands of young people are vulnerable, and studies show that girls are disproportionately harmed in sports settings. Support our urgent efforts by signing up for our newsletter to participate in our activations and by donating to our work.

azadi means freedom

On the eve of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, “Azadi Means Freedom” by Maryam Shojaei was published by Seven Stories Press. Equality League is a member of the international coalition that supported Maryam’s successful #NoBan4Women to overturn the 40-year-old stadium ban that prevented Iran’s 41 million women and girls enter stadiums to watch men’s football matches.

We’re raising awareness for Maryam’s inspiring story about how she took on Iran's government and FIFA to challenge a decades-long ban keeping women out of soccer stadiums.  As the sister of national team captain Masoud Shojaei, she was denied the simple right to watch her own brother play.  Her fight grew into a global campaign for women's rights—marked by courage, danger, and international impact.

The New York Times: Iranian activist Maryam Shojaei on women’s stadium ban protests and arrest by morality police, a radio interview with the CBC and Women's enews. 

The book was recently short-listed for the 2026 Vaclav Havel Peace Award for courageously defending human rights and democracy.  She has also been recognized with an ESPN Sports Humanitarian Award for advancing women's rights and social justice through sport.

Maryam holds a Master's degree in Peace Operations from George Mason University.  Maryam partnered with Equality League as a translator for our Operation Hoops humanitarian mission to evacuate and resettle at-risk Afghan women athletes. She continues her advocacy with a focus on education for women and children.    

ADVOCACY TRAINING

  • human rights fundamentals

    We help athletes understand their rights and how to demand and protect them.

  • campaign creation

    We build strategies to dismantle barriers to safety, access, and equality for women and girls.

  • storytelling

    We strengthen the voices and visibility of change agents to reach decision-makers.

  • coalition building

    We believe in collective power leads to lasting impact.

safeguarding training

safeguarding should not be perceived as a restriction, but as a necessary and enabling structure for leadership, confidence, and collective responsibility.

We equip athletes with practical tools to recognize, prevent, and respond to harm. Our Youth Council is trained to facilitate short, age-appropriate peer-to-peer learning that teaches them their rights, boundaries, warning signs, help-seeking skills, and reporting options. The goal is to create a culture in which young people look out for one another without being placed in the role of investigator, counselor, or safeguarding officer. 

The training complements and supplements existing safeguarding designed for adults---including parents, coaches, adminstrators, volunteers, governing bodies and others who are responsible for creating safe sports environments.