The British Esports Association has launched a new campaign called Women in Esports. The initiative will focus on both getting more women involved in esports and celebrating women already in the industry.
In a statement published on their website, the BEA discussed how, despite a large portion of esports viewership being female, there is still more work to do in making esports an inclusive environment for women.
“30.4% of esports viewership is made up of women, according to a report by Interpret in Q4 2018, and that number has risen 6.5% over the past three years,” the BEA said. “But there is still plenty of room for growth, not to mention a lack of female esports players at the top level.”
With esports differing from traditional sports in not having the same kinds of physical barriers between genders, the lack of female talent in major esports titles speaks to the hurdles women have to clear in order to compete. The BEA campaign will look to fix this by encouraging more women to participate in all aspects of esports including playing, casting, marketing, and production.
Alice Leaman, Schools and Colleges liaison officer for the British Esports Association is eager to share the stories of women across the esports world. “By celebrating and supporting women in esports we can help increase awareness of the accessibility and inclusivity of esports,” Leaman said.
Women In Esports will create and promote content from women within the esports world about their careers and publish advice for anyone seeking to follow in their footsteps. They will be working alongside other inclusivity organizations and helping to spread their work.
The BEA’s aims are to promote and increase awareness of esports in the United Kingdom to improve the standard of U.K esports and inspire future talent. As such, the Women In Esports campaign will be ongoing without a confirmed end date.
The British organization has asked for anyone wishing to contribute to the discussion to use the hashtag #WomenInEsports, and to follow them on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest interviews and content they launch.
