See, hear and empower women: it is time to ‘walk the walk’ to eliminate manels in sport and exercise medicine/physiotherapy

The ‘manel’—all- male panel 1 —in sport and exercise medicine/physiotherapy is a powerful and visible symbol of gender inequality. 2 The ‘manel’ normalises the absence of women leaders (role models), 3 erodes women’s confidence and ambition 2 and stunts the depth and development of sport and exercise medicine/physiotherapy. 3 To combat this, the British Journal of Sports Medicine ( BJSM ) devel-oped its conference ‘stamp of approval’, 4 which requires more than 40% women faculty and scientific committee members. Perhaps the best example of a ‘manel’ elimination strategy is affirmative action by the International