Hundreds of female athletes had ‘opportunities, including medals’ taken by biological males, says UN report
A shocking new report reveals biological males competing in female sports have taken medals from more than 600 female athletes.
“According to information received by 30 March 2024, over 600…
A shocking new report reveals biological males competing in female sports have taken medals from more than 600 female athletes.
“According to information received by 30 March 2024, over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost more than 890 medals in 29 different sports,” the UN report details. “The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males.”
The report, “Violence against women and girls in sports,” was authored by Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, and was presented to the UN General Assembly earlier this month.
Alsalem notes these lost opportunities are a direct result of “policies implemented by international federations and national governing bodies” which allow biological males to compete in women’s divisions.
The report goes on to detail unfair advantages biological males have when competing against females. Advantages such as increased strength and testosterone levels have resulted in a “loss of fair opportunity” for female athletes, the report says, regardless of rules meant to level the playing field.
“Some sports federations mandate testosterone suppression for athletes in order to qualify for female categories in elite sports,” the report explains. “However, pharmaceutical testosterone suppression for genetically male athletes – irrespective of how they identify – will not eliminate the set of comparative performance advantages they have already acquired.
“This approach may not only harm the health of the athlete concerned, but it also fails to achieve its stated objective. Therefore, the testosterone levels deemed acceptable by any sporting body are, at best, not evidence-based, arbitrary and asymmetrically favor males.”
When presenting the report, Alsalem pressed the assembly to implement major reforms to protect female athletes from losing even more opportunities to men. Those reforms, she argued, should include a new ‘open’ category for transgender athletes and “non-invasive, confidential and simple sex screenings.”
Adding insult to injury, she ultimately concludes females experience many different types of “violence” when competing in sports, such as misogyny, sexism as well as the lack of equal training opportunities and facilities. Competing against physically superior, transgender athletes, she says, is just the latest to rear its ugly head.
“Women and girls already have many odds stacked against them that impede their equal and effective participation in sports. In addition, their ability to play sport in conditions of safety, dignity and fairness has been further eroded by the intrusion of males who identify as female in female-only sports and related spaces.”
In the U.S., the Biden administration has reinterpreted Title IX regulations to provide protections for athletes based on their “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
However, 26 state attorneys general sued the Biden administration and several injunctions blocking the implementation of the new regulations have been issued as the cases are litigated.
In August, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the Biden administration’s request to vacate the injunctions.