The South African government has slammed the International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over their plan to classify
intersex Olympic champion Caster Semenya as a 'biological male' at a Court of
Arbitration of Sports hearing next week.
This comes after The Times reported that lawyers for the
athletics' international body will argue that the 28-year-old South African
should be allowed to compete in women's events if, as transgender athletes do,
she and other so-called 'hyperandrogenic' athletes or those with 'differences
of sexual development' (DSD) will have to take contraceptive pills to lower
their testosterone levels below a prescribed amount.
Reacting to the IAAF's plan, South Africa's Sports Minister
Tokozile Xasa described the rules as 'discriminatory' as she launched a campaign
in support of hyperandrogenic athletes.
'These regulations appear to be specifically targeting
Caster Semenya,' she told a news conference.
'What's at stake here is far more than the right to
participate in a sport. Women's bodies, their wellbeing, their ability to earn
a livelihood, their very identity, their privacy and sense of safety and
belonging in the world, are being questioned.
'This is a gross violation of internationally accepted
standards of human rights law.'
The government on Friday launched a campaign
dubbed#NaturallySuperior in a bid to drum up international support.
'The world once declared apartheid as a crime against human
rights. We once more call people of the world to stand with us as we fight what
we believe is a gross violation of human rights,' the minister added.
She called on individuals and organisations 'intolerant of
discrimination' to add their voices to a movement 'that condemns these
discriminatory IAAF regulations which in their nature seek to unfairly exclude
other sections of society from competing in sport,' she said.
