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July 7 (Reuters) – World Athletics discriminates against women with intersex variations by forcing them to reduce high testosterone levels to participate in the female category and the rules are similar to apartheid, a minister-adviser said on Wednesday Cameroonian.
Come Damien Georges Awoumou, Minister-Counselor at the Cameroonian Mission to the United Nations, made the comments on behalf of the African Group during a special debate on sport and human rights held at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Namibian athletes Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi were pulled last week from the 400m event at the Olympics after tests revealed their natural testosterone levels were too high. Read more
“We are seeing a situation where the IAAF (World Athletics) through these regulations is using sport to discriminate against women with intersex variations and to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes,” Awoumou said.
“The majority of the athletes affected by the rules are from the south of the world and for Africa, these rules remind us of the difficult and dark past of racial segregation.
“These stereotypes contribute to several other violations of women’s rights, including their rights to health, privacy and freedom from torture.
“The segregation of women on the basis of intersex variations has the same effect as apartheid, one of the international crimes against humanity.”
Reuters has contacted World Athletics for comment on Awoumou’s statement.
Mboma and Masilingi did not follow World Athletics’ eligibility rules for the women’s classification which apply to the 400-meter-per-mile running events.
The same rules prevented South African Caster Semenya, Burundian Francine Niyonsaba and Kenyan Margaret Wambui from competing in the 800m after refusing to lower their testosterone levels with medication.
After Semenya lost her appeal in the Swiss Federal Court last year, World Athletics said its rules were legitimate and a “fair, necessary and proportionate means of securing the rights of all female athletes to participate under conditions. fair and equal “.
Awoumou urged the body to revise its regulations and added: “We reiterate that the regulations are not based on objective and reasonable criteria, and we do not understand their justification under international human rights law because nor do they respect the principle of non-discrimination. between men and women. “
Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Mitch Phillips, written by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge
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