Wed, Jul 12th 2023
South African track and field athlete Caster Semenya has been discriminated against in Switzerland, according to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). She had been prevented from participating in races because she refused treatment to lower her naturally high testosterone levels.
Semenya has been female since birth and has identified as female throughout her sport. Her doctors say she has naturally high levels of testosterone – so high that she could qualify as male on biological markers. Semenya has been labeled a hyperandrogenic athlete.
Semenya has won numerous gold medals in the 400, 800 and 1500 meters at the Olympic Games, World Championships, and other competitions over the past decade.
In 2018, the International Amateur Athletic Federation ruled that athletes who have conditions that cause testosterone levels to be above a certain marker must take medication to lower them in order to compete in female athletics. Since 2019, Semenya has refused to take medications to artificially lower her testosterone, claiming that her naturally high testosterone levels are a natural gift akin to swimmers with long arms.
Semenya has pointed out the irony of being instructed to take medication to change her body’s chemistry in a sport that has strict rules against doping.
Semenya first took her case to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled in favor of the hormone-reducing rule. She then appealed her case to Switzerland’s highest court.
In 2020, the Swiss judiciary confirmed the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that had declared a regulation by the International Athletics Federation to be valid. According to the regulations, the hyperandrogenic athlete and two-time Olympic champion in the 800-meter dash had to take hormone treatment to lower her testosterone levels if she wants to compete at her course.
After losing in Switzerland, Semenya appealed her case at the European Court of Human Rights. The judges released their ruling Tuesday.
Semenya’s lawyers argued that the athlete’s rights have been violated, that she has been discriminated against, and that an “effective remedy” to the discrimination has not been provided in her earlier cases. Semenya herself argued that the hormone-reducing medication could endanger her health and that she is allowed to rely on her natural abilities.
The ECHR found the Swiss government guilty of failing to protect Semenya from being discriminated against when it allowed the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling to be upheld. What remains to be seen now is if Semenya will have her gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics restored following the ruling.
This article may be re-shared so long as it links back to our site. Keystone SDA contributed some reporting to this article.
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