Sport, the new World Athletics rules based on hormone tests for female athletes are based on stereotypes and not on science

ROME – The World Athletics, the international body that regulates athletics competitions, has approved a series of rules for women’s participation in competitions. The new provisions, which went into effect on March 31, require women with higher than normal testosterone levels to undergo medical procedures to lower it. But these regulations – Human Rights Watch denounces – are not based on scientific studies and have no objective basis. Among other things – underlines the organization – they also involve an invasive surveillance of women’s bodies.

The complaint. The file of Human Rights Watch notes how previous versions of the same World Athletics regulations encouraged abusive sex testing, discrimination, surveillance and forced medical interventions on female athletes, resulting in physical, psychological and economic hardship. Women perceived as “too masculine” due to excess testosterone may become targets of suspicion and gossip and may be forced to end their athletic careers prematurely. The standards of “femininity” enforced by World Athletics are often deeply racist.

Science. There is no scientific consensus, in fact, that women with higher testosterone have any performance advantages in sports. Indeed, although the amount of testosterone can also vary in men, there have never been similar regulations for male athletes. Currently the World Athletics rules are being challenged at the European Court of Human Rights thanks to a complaint by South African middle distance runner and sprinter Caster Semenya, two-time Olympic champion in the 800m dash and three-time world champion in the same specialty.

The case of Caster Semenya. In September 2020 Semenya lost her lengthy legal battle in the Swiss Supreme Court, which barred her from competing in the Tokyo Olympics unless she agreed to have medical interventions to lower her testosterone level. Last week, at a press conference announcing the new rules, Sebastian Coe, president of the World Athletics, said thirteen women currently risk being excluded from the World Championships scheduled for August 2023 if they do not get medical treatment. For Human Rights Watch the fact that the sports body can accurately indicate thirteen athletes at risk of competing, gives the measure of the level of surveillance already in place on the sports bodies.

A history of discrimination. In 1985 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified the Spanish hurdler Maria José Martínez-Patiño due to gender tests. Officials deemed her “chromosomally male” due to hormonal variations. Those tests began to be used by the Olympic Committee to identify “sexually ambiguous” female athletes and under this procedure eight women were classified as men and excluded from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Under pressure from the Olympic Athletes’ Commission, the IOC stopped mandatory sex testing for all women, although some federations continued to test women perceived as too masculine.

Stereotypes and racism. In practice, behind the banner of scientific legitimacy, some female athletes become victims of these abusive and medically unnecessary tests. And the problem mostly affects black women from Africa and South Asia. The result can be exclusion from competitive athletics, which also affects the economic independence of sportswomen.

The decisions of the International Olympic Committee. In 2021, the COI approved guidelines on equity, inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender variations which outline the limits within which individual federations must move, specifying that no one must be subjected tests aimed at determining sex or its variations and gender identity.