South African Govt slam IAAF over plan to classify intersex Olympic champion Caster Semenya a 'male athlete'
The South African government has slammed the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over their plan to classify intersex Olympic champion Caster Semenya as a 'biological male' at a Court of Arbitration of Sports hearing next week.
This comes after The Times reported that lawyers for the athletics' international body will argue that the 28-year-old South African should be allowed to compete in women's events if, as transgender athletes do, she and other so-called 'hyperandrogenic' athletes or those with 'differences of sexual development' (DSD) will have to take contraceptive pills to lower their testosterone levels below a prescribed amount.
Reacting to the IAAF's plan, South Africa's Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa described the rules as 'discriminatory' as she launched a campaign in support of hyperandrogenic athletes.
'These regulations appear to be specifically targeting Caster Semenya,' she told a news conference.
'What's at stake here is far more than the right to participate in a sport. Women's bodies, their wellbeing, their ability to earn a livelihood, their very identity, their privacy and sense of safety and belonging in the world, are being questioned.
'This is a gross violation of internationally accepted standards of human rights law.'
The government on Friday launched a campaign dubbed#NaturallySuperior in a bid to drum up international support.
'The world once declared apartheid as a crime against human rights. We once more call people of the world to stand with us as we fight what we believe is a gross violation of human rights,' the minister added.
She called on individuals and organisations 'intolerant of discrimination' to add their voices to a movement 'that condemns these discriminatory IAAF regulations which in their nature seek to unfairly exclude other sections of society from competing in sport,' she said.
'What's at stake here is far more than the right to participate in a sport. Women's bodies, their wellbeing, their ability to earn a livelihood, their very identity, their privacy and sense of safety and belonging in the world, are being questioned.
'This is a gross violation of internationally accepted standards of human rights law.'
The government on Friday launched a campaign dubbed#NaturallySuperior in a bid to drum up international support.
'The world once declared apartheid as a crime against human rights. We once more call people of the world to stand with us as we fight what we believe is a gross violation of human rights,' the minister added.
She called on individuals and organisations 'intolerant of discrimination' to add their voices to a movement 'that condemns these discriminatory IAAF regulations which in their nature seek to unfairly exclude other sections of society from competing in sport,' she said.
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