The Olympics: Transgender Women Ban
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has been reported that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to announce, early in new year, a new policy to ban transgender women competing in female events, following the results of a science-based review regarding the permanent physical advantages of being born male, even in those cases where treatment for reducing testosterone has been undertaken.
This review was carried out by Dr Jane Thornton, the IOC medical and scientific director, who is a former Olympic rower.
To date, the IOC position on this controversial matter has been to allow transgender women to compete in female events with reduced testosterone levels but has left it to individual sports governing bodies to decide based on their own rules.
It appears that there is some further work to be done, before a final decision is taken, to ensure that the new policy is legally defensible, particularly, one would expect, regarding any possible human rights legal challenges, taking into account the IOC general principles, as enshrined in the Olympic Charter, that the practice of sport is a human right and any form of discrimination in sport, including on the grounds of sex or sexual orientation, is prohibited.
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