Caster Semenya found to have been discriminated against in testosterone case

Caster Semenya was discriminated against by rules which forced her to lower her testosterone levels in order to continue competing, according to a judgement from the European Court of Human Rights.

The 32-year-old, a two-time 800 metres Olympic champion, was legally identified as female at birth but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.

She has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since 2019, following the introduction of limits on testosterone levels for female athletes which would have forced her to use medication.

Judgment Semenya v. Switzerland - Discrimination against international-level athlete who was not afforded sufficient procedural safeguards when challenging World Athletics regulationshttps://t.co/b1iSVzZ9fM#ECHR #CEDH #ECHRpress pic.twitter.com/VJWCPGdZaC

— ECHR CEDH (@ECHR_CEDH) July 11, 2023

Previous legal challenges to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR found her human rights had been violated.

A release issued by the court stated: “The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD).”

A legal summary of the case said Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to discrimination, had been violated, along with Article 13 which related to the absence of effective remedies to tackle that discrimination.