Article about access to sport, and competing in sporting activities. Read our briefing page.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued a press release outlining a majority decision against Caster Semenya and Athletics South Africa in their case with the IAAF. Caster Semenya is a Black South African cisgender woman, born with a variation of sex characteristics, seeking to compete in the sex category she was assigned at…
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In a new joint paper in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, Katrina Karkazis and Morgan Carpenter detail the choices and harms involved in unnecessary regulations affecting the participation of some women with intersex variations in elite sport. In April 2018, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) released new regulations placing a ceiling on women…
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Intersex people suffer exclusion and stigmatisation in sport. On a day-to-date level, the most significant issue is body shaming. However, intersex women face uncertainty, exclusion without evidence, and public humilation.
For a complete overview on issues relating to intersex people in sport, read our briefing paper on sport The ACT Human Rights Commission has published a guide to the inclusion of transgender and intersex people in sport. Unfortunately, the guide homogenises intersex and transgender populations in a way that both makes intersex inclusion far more…
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Please note that this post contains distressing images. It intersperses quotations about intersex infants and children with quotations about the bodies of public figures. Body shaming is an intersex issue, perhaps even more than any other issue. It stunts people’s lives and provides rationales for harmful medical interventions. If you want to know why openly…
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Much of the reporting on some women athletes participating in the Rio Olympics is insupportable. It makes assumptions about their bodies, sex, gender identity and expressions that is deeply concerning. Much reporting fails to acknowledge the lack of scientific evidence for body policing by sporting institutions, and the deep personal cost of such assumptions, which…
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OII Australia and eight partner organisations collaborated in Rainbow Votes, coordinated by Corey Irlam. The Rainbow Votes coalition appreciates the comprehensive responses by the Australian Greens, Australian Labor Party and Liberal National Coalition to our 2016 LGBTI election survey. Members of the Rainbow Votes coalition of LGBTI rights and health organisations have assessed the content…
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Last November/December, I was very kindly invited to Geneva for a meeting with Dainius Pūras, the UN Special Rapporteur on health, in connection with a report now published on sport and healthy lifestyles and the right to health. The report (A/HRC/32/33) is an important one, particularly given an exemption in federal Australian anti-discrimination law that…
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In the past few weeks, new IOC policy positions on both gender identity and sex characteristics have been published. The statements have received widespread media coverage, focused mostly on improved (albeit imperfect) access to competition for trans athletes. The IOC “consensus meeting” policy paper is dated November 2015, and it contains two statements, one entitled…
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Big congratulations to Dutee Chand, and to Payoshni Mitra and Katrina Karkazis, for winning a case against the IAAF before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Lausanne. Just over a year ago, Dutee Chand was excluded from competing in the Commonwealth Games because her natural testosterone levels were deemed to be too high. The case…
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We invite you to consider signing this petition on the exclusion of women with high natural levels of testosterone from participating in competitive sport. OII Australia has previously reported how several elite women athletes have been subjected to “partial clitoridectomies” and sterilisation in order to compete, in a process that is clearly coercive. We urge…
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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism this month contains a report on research by the International Association of Athletics Federations’ Medical and Anti-Doping Department and Commission, and others. It states that there is “no clear scientific evidence” for current policies excluding elite intersex women athletes from competitive sport on the basis of high androgen…
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