She will now assist the IOC in the development and implementation of their women and sport policy.
Toorpakai disguised herself as a boy in order to train, compete and attend school in a Taliban controlled area of Pakistan. In that area of the highly conservative South Waziristan, women competing in sport is regarded as un-Islamic.
She is now the highest ranked female squash player in Pakistan.
At the IOC, Toorpakai will advise the IOC Session, the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President on promoting the rights and well-being of women and girls in sport, promoting the use of sport as a tool for gender equality and empowerment and raising awareness of harassment and abuse in sport.
“It’s definitely very exciting news for me and for all of us, I can play a better role from this position for athletes and girls in sports,” Toorpakai said in a press release. “The Olympics is a stage where the whole world unites and shows their human power. It’s our duty to provide all the athletes, male and female, with equal opportunities and a safer and respectable environment. All countries should use humans’ potential to its full and it’s important for world peace and our economic stability. Inequality, injustice and exclusion leads to the waste of immense talent and ideas, reduces human performance and leads to complete chaos and destruction.
“I really appreciate IOC President Thomas Bach’s efforts to introduce more women to the IOC Commissions. It was a much needed step and it will definitely improve female athlete’s participation in the Olympics. I am very hopeful that these changes will have a positive impact on this coming Olympic Games.”
The IOC has had a 70 percent increase in female participation in the IOC Commissions since September 2013. Now, 38 percent of the IOC Commissions are made up of women
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