No games for women with 'too much' testosterone

Indian activist and researcher on gender issues in sports, Payoshni Mitra, talks about the case of Dutee Chand, an Indian athlete who was recently banned from competition due to naturally occurring high testosterone levels. Hida Viloria, an intersex representative at the IOC Commission follows with her take on the International Olympic Committee’s policy on testosterone testing. For the rest of the conversation, watch the full episode: http://bit.ly/1pKhkYK

Caster Semenya’s CAS verdict: ‘will lead to witch-hunt’ by Payoshni Mitra

The International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) eligibility regulations for competitors with Differences of Sex Development say that its health and science department will look into each case.

However, Dr Payoshni Mitra, one of the 10 experts on Caster Semenya’s team, believes implementation of the regulations will result in violation of the rights of female athletes. Mitra, an activist and researcher on gender issues, believes that officials of national athletics federations will, without the knowledge of the outside world, subject women athletes with suspected hyperandrogenism to tests and procedures to screen them early before investing in them long-term with an eye on medals in international competitions.

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Gender bending, gender testing by Vrinda Marwah

आज ओलंपिक धावक सेमेन्या Semenya को लेकर खेल जगत में चर्चा है. उनके शरीर में टेस्टोस्टिरोन हार्मोन की मात्रा लड़कियों में पाई जानेवाली निर्धारित मात्रा से अधिक है. इस आधार पर फैसला हुआ है कि उनको दवा खाकर अपने शरीर के टेस्टोस्टिरोन को घटाना पड़ेगा तभी वे महिला खिलाड़ी की श्रेणी में (ख़ास दूरी की) दौड़ प्रतियोगिता में हिस्सा ले पाएँगी. मालूम हो कि टेस्टोस्टिरोन लड़कों के लक्षण उभारनेवाला हार्मोन है. इस खबर पर पूरी दुनिया में फिर से बहस छिड़ गई है. पिंकी प्रामाणिक और दुती चंद का उदाहरण हमारे सामने है. मतलब यह है कि हाव-भाव, चाल-ढाल, पहरावे, केश-सज्जा आदि ही नहीं अब हार्मोन और क्रोमोजोम की जाँच करो और लड़का-लड़की के दो डिब्बों को बनाए रखो. कई साल पहले का यह लेख महत्त्वपूर्ण है.

The arrest and subsequent humiliation of Indian athlete and international medal winner Pinki Pramanik has violated her right to privacy, bodily integrity, and basic human dignity. It has also raised important and often sidelined questions about gender, sports and the way the world is organised. Twenty-six-year-old Pramanik was accused by her live-in partner of repeated rape and torture, and of being a man. She was arrested on June 14, 2012. She was not granted bail for 26 days, which she spent in a male cell in a West Bengal jail, and she had to undergo three gender determination tests at different state hospitals, because the necessary facilities were not available at a single hospital. An MMS clip, showing her in the nude while undergoing one of the tests, was leaked online and went viral. The district and sessions judge, while granting Pramanik bail on July 11, held that she was physically incapable of rape, and that the petitioner who alleged rape had been in a consensual live-in relationship with Pramanik for nearly three years. Pramanik was suspended from her job as a ticket collector with the Eastern railways; the suspension was revoked after her bail and she has now rejoined work. While speaking to the media, she alleged that, in police custody, gender tests were forcibly carried out on her after drugging her and tying her hands and feet.

In November 2012, the West Bengal police submitted a chargesheet before the district court in which, citing medical reports, they alleged that Pramanik is indeed male, and charged with rape. Later, Dr BN Kahali, who headed the medical investigation into Pramanik’s gender, clarified that Pramanik suffered from a “disorder of sexual development”, and could best be described as a male pseudo-hermaphrodite, which is to say that Pramanik is not female, but “cannot be termed a male”. Pramanik has responded by saying she feels “like a joker in a circus”, and is being driven by the police to think of suicide. According to the latest media reports (also in November 2012) Pramanik planned to file a defamation case against the police and the public prosecutor, and publicly asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, and the union sports ministry, to intervene in her case.