Tag Archive for 'Amazing Women in Sport'

USA TODAY

IOC still drags its feet on female equality

By Christine Brennan
Published February 22nd, 2012

LOS ANGELES – The hundreds of women from around the world who gathered last week for the start of the International Olympic Committee‘s fifth Women and Sport Conference had just settled into their seats in the Nokia Theatre when an opening video flickered before them. It was an IOC highlight reel of Olympic performances, but something was wrong with it. It included footage of one great male athlete after another. There were almost no women in it.

Out of 34 athletes who appeared in that film, there were the recognizable images of just four women, and they went by so quickly that many conference attendees didn’t think there were any at all.

When you watch footage like that, as I did as a speaker at the conference, you have to give the IOC credit for honesty: It didn’t even try to fake its concern for the achievements of women in sport. Or perhaps it is simply cluelessness; the IOC doesn’t know, or perhaps doesn’t care, about how awful that opening video looked.

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Published February 2012

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2010

Sport leaders request that random gender verification testing of female athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver be prohibited

Toronto, Canada: The Coalition of Athletes for Inclusion in Sport requests that the organizing committee of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games prohibit random gender verification testing of female athletes at the Games, in the best interest of all international female athletes.

“The statements from the IOC following its Gender Summit in Miami in January 2010 do not demonstrate any intent by the IOC to eliminate the inequities and discriminatory impact of gender testing in sport. By classifying gender ambiguities as disorders requiring treatment, the IOC is pathologizing a normal spectrum of humanity. By assuming that the only relevant gender issue is in women’s events, the IOC ignores the potential advantage of physical characteristics associated with the female form (flexibility, for example) to men in certain sports. In addition, the IOC policy is excessively discretionary and subjective in that the IOC does not state what criteria are relevant to a determination of “male” or “female”. By subjecting only certain women to the policy, the IOC also leaves women open to witch hunts and being requested to undergo body modification. By any standard, the IOC’s approach is a violation of international laws prohibiting gender discrimination and the IOC’s own commitment to equality and the right to play. We continue to urge the IOC to adopt the proposed gender policy alternative of the Coalition of Athletes for Inclusion. ”

Gender verification testing is a violation of human rights, specifically the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also violates the Olympic Movement’s stated commitments to equality and the right to play.

To Read Entire Press Release Document – “Click Here” to Download
Published – January 2010

Key References

The Coalition of Athletes for Inclusion in Sport – Position Statement
The Guiding Principles for Inclusion in Sport
* Presented to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) January 7th, 2010

Goto Online Petition and let the IOC here your Athletes Voice “Click Here”
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CBC Radio One “The Current” Monday September 21st, 2009

For Full Half Hour Interview “CLICK” Here To Listen (Scroll Down To Part 3)

Interviewed
Canadian Elite Track Cyclist – Kristen Worley

Expert Panelists
Doug MacQuarrie – Director of the Canadian Centre of Ethics in Sport (CCES)
Myron Genel – Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Yale University