Caster Semenya wins appeal at European Court of Human Rights
Caster Semenya’s human rights were violated in the handling of her case by the Swiss legal system, according to the European Court of Human Rights.
World Athletics says there will be no changes to its rules on differences in sex development in the foreseeable future, though, as the case was against the Swiss Government rather than the global athletics governing body.
The South African athlete, who won Olympic 800m golds in 2012 and 2016, has been unable to compete at her best distance since the introduction of limits by World Athletics on testosterone levels which would have forced her to use medication. Legal challenges in the past to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR says her human rights were violated during the process.
In a judgement published on Tuesday (July 11), the ECHR found the Swiss government did not protect the athlete from being discriminated against when its Supreme Court refused to overturn a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld World Athletics' rules governing the participation of athletes with DSD.
The statement read: "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."
READ MORE: European Court of Human Rights statement
Semenya, who was born with differences of sexual development, argues that taking medication could put her health in danger and that the ruling, which prevented her defending her Olympic 800m title in 2021, denied athletes with DSD the right to rely on their natural abilities.
In a statement, the global governing body said: "World Athletics notes the judgement of the deeply divided Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). We remain of the view that the DSD regulations are a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss Federal Tribunal both found, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence.
"The case was filed against the state of Switzerland, rather than World Athletics. We will liaise with the Swiss Government on the next steps and, given the strong dissenting views in the decision, we will be encouraging them to seek referral of the case to the ECHR Grand Chamber for a final and definitive decision. In the meantime, the current DSD regulations, approved by the World Athletics Council in March 2023, will remain in place."
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