UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem./Image: Video screenshot.
A new study from the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, was recently presented to the UN General Assembly.
The study “Violence against women and girls in sports” shares that more than 600 female athletes have lost to competitors who were born male in a variety of athletic events resulting in female athletes losing almost 900 medals to trans opponents.
The study states, “The Special Rapporteur examines the forms of violence experienced by women and girls in sport, their causes and the perpetrators of this violence, and offers recommendations for better prevention and response to violence against women and girls in sport. The Special Rapporteur received over 100 submissions from relevant stakeholders. She also held expert consultations in which 50 persons participated.”
“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 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 study also points out the obvious biological advantages male athletes have that can positively impact their performance in athletic endeavors which Alsalem states can result in the “loss of fair opportunity” for female competitors and increase the risk of physical violence against women and girls.
Female athletes are also more vulnerable to sustaining serious physical injuries when female-only sports spaces are opened to males, as documented in disciplines such as in volleyball, basketball and soccer. Instances have been reported where adult males have been included in teams of underage girls. Injuries have included knocked-out teeth, concussions resulting in neural impairment, broken legs and skull fractures. According to scientific studies, males have certain performance advantages in sports. One study asserts that, even in non-elite sport, “the least powerful man produced more power than the most powerful woman” and states that, where men and women have roughly the same levels of fitness, males’ average punching power has been measured as 162 per cent greater than females.
Male athletes have specific attributes considered advantageous in certain sports, such as strength and testosterone levels that are higher than those of the average range for females, even before puberty, thereby resulting in the loss of fair opportunity. Some sports federations mandate testosterone suppression for athletes in order to qualify for female categories in elite sports. 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 favour males. Females are usually tested randomly to ensure that they are not using performance-enhancing drugs, while males are often not monitored to ensure that they are taking testosterone suppression drugs. To avoid the loss of a fair opportunity, males must not compete in the female categories of sport.
Alsalem delivered her findings to the UN General Assembly in a passionate defense of women.
“Equally concerning is the continued push in some countries to erase women as a specific group in society. To erase women and women-specific words and terminology from language and to erase the way in which being female impacts their lives and shapes their experiences, including experiences of discrimination and violence.”
“Policies and legislation can not continue to ignore and sideline the centrality of sex as a key factor in which women and girls are discriminated against and deny women single-sex spaces where they are necessary, proportionate and legitimate to the objectives of upholding their safety and dignity.”
Watch:
“Policies and legislation cannot continue to ignore and sideline the centrality of sex as a key factor in which women and girls are discriminated against, and deny women single-sex spaces”@UNSRVAW presents her report on violence against women and girls in sport to #GA79 pic.twitter.com/7lZr2SyBqa
— Sex Matters (@SexMattersOrg) October 9, 2024
The advanced unedited version of my upcoming report to #UNGA79 (Report A/79/325) on violence against women and girls in sport, which I will present on the 8th of October in NY is now out: https://t.co/p2jGleXvaf.
The edited translated official report is expected at the end of…
— Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls (@UNSRVAW) September 10, 2024
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