What do Oral Contraceptives have to do with Human Rights Abuses in Sport?

In this important one-hour podcast episode, listen to moderator Professor Alice M. Miller, J.D. (co-director of the GHJP of Yale Law and Public Health Schools), and the authors of a recently published SRHM paper (What do oral contraceptives have to do with human rights abuses in sport?), Katrina Karkazis, PhD, MPH (Professor, Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies at Amherst College) and Michele Krech, J.S.D. (Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law at University of Chicago Law School).

They discuss in detail how the Court of Arbitration of Sport and World Athletics rely on mistaken assumptions about oral contraceptives, and misused scientific evidence to uphold a coercive and medically unnecessary use of oral contraceptive pills for testosterone suppression, in female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels, as an eligibility criterion to compete in certain track events. This discussion took place a few days before an important event - the hearing of Olympic runner Caster Semenya's appeal against these regulations, by the European Court of Human Rights on May 15, 2024, on the grounds that these are discriminatory to people with differences in sexual development. Semenya, who is legally female, was coerced to take oral contraceptives to reduce her natural testosterone levels, to be able to compete in track events 400m. and beyond, a medical intervention that negatively impacted her health and career.

We also hear from Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General of the World Medical Association, who discusses his stance and concerns on these coercive regulations brought about by World Athletics. Moreover, we hear from Dr. Payoshini Mitra, an athlete rights defender who actively campaigns for the abolition of sex testing practices in female sports, talks to Ugandan former running champion Annet Negesa, who was coerced to undergo an invasive procedure mandated by the World Athletics to lower her testosterone levels.

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What do oral contraceptives have to do with human rights abuses in sport?