Skip to main content

New top story from Time: Olympic Champion Caster Semenya Is Taking Her Fight to Compete to the European Court of Human Rights

https://ift.tt/3pRHLg7

South African athlete Caster Semenya is bringing her legal fight to participate in women’s sports to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), her latest bid to “put an end to the longstanding human rights violations by World Athletics against women athletes.” The lawsuit from the two-time Olympic champion challenges restrictions on testosterone levels in female athletes that prevents certain women from participating in international sports competitions.

In a tweet Thursday morning, Semenya shared a press release from her lawyers, Norton Rose Fulbright, which said “Semenya’s ongoing fight for dignity, equality, and the human rights of women in sport took a crucial step forward with the filing of an application” to the ECHR.

The lawsuit asks that the Strasbourg court find that “Switzerland has failed in its positive obligations to protect her against the violation of her rights.” In September 2020, Semenya lost her long-running legal battle at Switzerland’s Supreme Court, preventing her from competing at the Tokyo Olympics unless she agrees to medical interventions to lower her testosterone. She had appealed against a 2019 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Switzerland that upheld 2018 rules from the international athletics governing body World Athletics that prohibit some female runners with naturally higher levels of testosterone from participating in international women’s sports competitions.

Read More: Caster Semenya Won’t Stop Fighting for Her Right to Run, Just as She Is

Such regulations involve “sex testing” for women’s participation in sport, which violates several internationally protected human rights including rights to privacy, dignity health and non-discrimination, according to a December 2020 report by Human Rights Watch. The report called World Athletics’ sex-testing regulations “inherently subjective and degrading,” and highlighted that the testosterone levels used to rule out certain women from participating in sports fall “within an arbitrary and largely unscientific range.” HRW said the regulation has been used to police the bodies of women athletes with higher testosterone levels, forcing medical interventions upon them to lower levels of the hormone so they could keep competing, and has also disproportionately affected women from the Global South.

In a June 2020 report, which highlighted Semenya’s case, the U.N. called for sporting bodies to “review, revise and revoke” eligibility rules and regulations that have negative effects on athletes’ rights.

“I hope the European court will put an end to the longstanding human rights violations by World Athletics against women athletes,” Semenya said in the statement released Thursday. “All we ask is to be allowed to run free, for once and for all, as the strong and fearless women we are and always have been.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/lTOH3qM

FOX NEWS: Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/Cp2cU0x

New top story from Time: Pioneering Gay Rights Activist and Photojournalist Kay Lahusen Dies at 91

https://ift.tt/34uhD2y Kay Lahusen, a pioneering gay rights activist who chronicled the movement’s earliest days through her photography and writing, has died. She was 91. Known as the first openly gay U.S. photojournalist, Lahusen died Wednesday at Chester County Hospital outside Philadelphia, following a brief illness. Together with her partner, the late activist Barbara Gittings , Lahusen advocated for gay civil rights years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York helped launch the modern LGBTQ era. She captured widely published images of some of the nation’s first protests. Lahusen “was the first photojournalist in our community,” said Mark Segal, a friend of more than 50 years and founder and publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News. “Practically every photo we have of that time is from Kay.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Lahusen photographed a series of gay rights demonstrations held in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall each July 4 from 1965 to 1969...

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/sfQG8Vu

FOX NEWS: Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/g3GeP5Y

FOX NEWS: Memorial Day sales to shop ahead of the holiday weekend Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and while the unofficial kickoff of summer may be a gift in itself, there’s plenty of deals to be had.

Memorial Day sales to shop ahead of the holiday weekend Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and while the unofficial kickoff of summer may be a gift in itself, there’s plenty of deals to be had. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3wqnodA

FOX NEWS: Students sing to teacher with stage 4 cancer outside hospital: 'It was overwhelming' In an emotional goodbye visit, 26 children sang worship songs prior to Carol Mack's move to hospice care

Students sing to teacher with stage 4 cancer outside hospital: 'It was overwhelming' In an emotional goodbye visit, 26 children sang worship songs prior to Carol Mack's move to hospice care via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/YVZPIdc

FOX NEWS: Top baby names list for 2021 reveals familiar trends For the second year in a row, these two names are the most popular for girls and boys – leading BabyCenter's Top 100 Baby Names list.

Top baby names list for 2021 reveals familiar trends For the second year in a row, these two names are the most popular for girls and boys – leading BabyCenter's Top 100 Baby Names list. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/vLosNzW

FOX NEWS: Top baby names list for 2021 reveals familiar trends For the second year in a row, these two names are the most popular for girls and boys – leading BabyCenter's Top 100 Baby Names list.

Top baby names list for 2021 reveals familiar trends For the second year in a row, these two names are the most popular for girls and boys – leading BabyCenter's Top 100 Baby Names list. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/y2GX1IF

FOX NEWS: Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar.

Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/01DarjY