COMUNICADO EN ESPAÑOL

From Brújula Intersexual, we express our deep concern regarding the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcement on March 26, 2026 (1), which establishes mandatory genetic testing as a criterion to determine who may compete in the women’s category. This policy is the result of a process that, from the outset, has been identified by human rights organizations (2) as biased and contrary to international standards, and it cannot be understood in isolation. This measure is part of a broader political moment in which various institutions seek to reinstate the idea that sex can be clearly, stably, and verifiably defined in the body, as if it were an objective fact that does not allow for ambiguity. However, the very need for these tests reveals the opposite: that sex is not self-evident, that it does not stand on its own, and that it must be constantly produced, monitored, intervened upon, and validated through increasingly invasive mechanisms.

The scientific argument presented is incomplete and gives rise to multiple questions about how the findings of the working group on which it is based were obtained. It remains unclear to what extent this can truly be considered a decision grounded in the best available scientific evidence. The analysis conducted by the IOC working group ignores that the bioavailability and utilization of testosterone—and other androgens—are not uniform, even among individuals with an XY karyotype and typically male anatomy. As Rebecca Jordan-Young and Katrina Karkazis note in Testosterone: An Unauthorized Biography (2019) (3), testosterone does not act in a simple or linear way in the human body, and its effects depend on multiple biological and contextual factors, which deeply calls into question its use as a standalone criterion for determining athletic advantage.

 

There is no single type of “female body”

The IOC’s policies are based on a false premise: that it is possible to define “women” through specific biological characteristics—such as chromosomes, genes, or hormonal levels—and that such a definition can be verified through testing. The reality is quite different: not all women have the same chromosomes, nor the same hormone levels, nor do they process hormones in the same way. Nor do all women share the same sex characteristics or the same physical development processes. There are women with variations in sex characteristics that include diverse combinations of anatomy, gonads, chromosomes, and hormonal sensitivity. These variations show that bodily diversity is not an exception, but a part of the reality of human bodies. The problem does not lie in bodies or their characteristics, but in the norms that attempt to reduce that diversity to an exclusive valid form (4).

The International Olympic Committee proposes SRY gene testing to determine eligibility in the female category; however, this gene is not exclusive to the Y chromosome and does not absolutely determine bodily development. Its presence or absence does not define the body, identity, or athletic performance.

While it is important that the IOC recognizes as eligible intersex women with an XY karyotype and androgen insensitivity—a population that has historically been excluded—it remains concerning that this criterion is not extended to other intersex women whose variations have not been shown to confer an unfair competitive advantage.

Moreover, the continued use of categories such as “rare conditions” reinforces stigmatizing imaginaries and once again places people with variations in sex characteristics under medical authority. Instead of recognizing their bodies as valid human variations, they are pathologized, subjected to processes of normalization—often invasive and violent—and exposed to constant social scrutiny.

 

Forcing athletes to “prove” they are women is violence

Mandatory genetic testing places athletes in a profoundly unjust situation. It forces them to undergo invasive examinations, disclose intimate information about their bodies, and prove that they meet a narrow definition of what it means to be a woman (5). Historically, sex testing has functioned as a mechanism of exclusion that restricts women’s participation in international sports competitions, as documented by Hortensia Moreno(2013) (6).

Many women with variations in sex characteristics have lived their entire lives as women. However, a genetic test can call that into question in a matter of seconds—even when the person had no prior knowledge of their variation. The proposed use of SRY gene testing would expose individuals to stigma and violations of their privacy; this has already happened in previous cases. The policy further proposes that those who do not meet these criteria compete in the men’s category. This disregards the lives, histories, and lived experiences of the affected women, forces them into a category that does not correspond to them, and turns bodily variations into grounds for exclusion.

 

Surveillance of women’s bodies

These measures do not only affect women with variations in sex characteristics or trans women but also reinforce stereotypes and open the door to a regime of suspicion and constant surveillance over the bodies of all women. This surveillance does not operate in a cultural vacuum. It is sustained by an ideal of femininity that is historically situated, Western, racialized, and shaped by power relations. This ideal defines which bodies are recognized as female and which are treated with suspicion. In practice, many athletes—especially those from Latin America and Africa—face heightened levels of scrutiny and questioning, as well as pressure to conform their bodies and expressions to dominant standards of femininity. These processes of bodily normalization have been identified in critical analyses (7) as forms of symbolic “whitening”—that is, the imposition of a bodily model based on Western, white, and class-specific norms, which delegitimizes other ways of existing (8).

It is particularly concerning that the IOC continues to use terms such as “biological sex” as if they were objective and neutral indicators, when they actually function as tools to validate certain identities while questioning or excluding others. In the context of the so-called “culture war,” the IOC evades its responsibility as an actor with global social impact by presenting itself as neutral. However, this presumed neutrality is not what it affirms to be: in practice, through a narrative of supposed “protection of the female’s category” and “competitive fairness,” it contributes to legitimizing a notion of “biological women” that is invoked by neofascist and anti-rights political actors. These narratives fuel misogynistic and transphobic moral panics, in which any woman who does not conform to imposed boundaries and normalized ideals is framed as a “cheater” and pushed into social ostracism. The IOC must recognize the consequences this will have not only in elite sport, but across all forms of sport—including recreational spaces—and, alarmingly, in youth and school-based sports. While the idea that certain bodies represent a “threat” is constructed, urgent issues in sport—such as sexual violence (9), abuse of power (10), structural inequality, and the precarity faced by many athletes (11)—are rendered invisible.

 

Position Statement

At Brújula Intersexual, we reject the use of mandatory genetic testing in sport. We denounce these policies as discriminatory and invasive, and as being grounded in a biased and incomplete scientific review. We join the international calls (12) to review legality of these policies and halt their implementation, and we defend the right of all people to participate in sport without being subjected to surveillance, exclusion, or violence.

We reaffirm that there is no single way to be a woman, nor a single type of female body.

Defending bodily diversity also means questioning the mechanisms that seek to produce certainty where difference exists—and will continue to exist. In the face of attempts to reduce this diversity to verifiable criteria, we assert that the problem does not lie in bodies, but in the persistence of institutions in forcing them into closed definitions that respond to a logic of bodily control rather than to principles of sporting justice. We call on the International Olympic Committee to take on a role grounded in transformation and social justice, where its actions transform sport into a space for play and development for all bodies, for all people.

 

We would like to thank Laura Inter, Eva Alcántara, and María Alejandra Sánchez Monroy for their collaboration in drafting this statement.

 

References:

(1) International Olympic Committee announces new Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women’s) Category in Olympic Sport (2026)

(2) Olympics: Sex Testing Harms All Women and Girls (2026)

(3) Testosterone: An Unauthorized Biography. Rebecca Jordan-Young and Katrina Karkazis (2019)

(4) Cuerpos diversos, normas rígidas [Diverse Bodies, Rigid Norms]. Laura Inter (2024)

(5) Imane Khelif: De escenificaciones, supremacía y justicia biológica [Imane Khelif: On Staging, Supremacy, and Biological Justice]. Hortensia Moreno (2024)

(6) ¿Quién le teme a Caster Semenya? [Who Is Afraid of Caster Semenya?] Hortensia Moreno, en Revista Debate Feminista: Intersexualidad [Debate Feminista Journal: Intersex] (2013)

(7) Modernidad y blanquitud [Modernity and Whiteness]. Bolívar Echeverría (2010)

(8) Otro deporte es posible: Atletas LGBTTTI+ en México [Another Sport Is Possible: LGBTTTI+ Athletes in Mexico]. Rodrigo Castillo Aguilar and Max López Toledano (2023)

(9) Combatiendo la violencia contra las mujeres y las niñas en el deporte: un manual para quienes formulan políticas y profesionales del deporte [Combating Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport: A Handbook for Policy Makers and Sport Professionals]. UNESCO (2024)

(10) Informe global sobre corrupción en el deporte: Corrupción y abusos en el deporte [Global Report on Corruption in Sport: Corruption and Abuse in Sport]. United Nations – UNODC (2021)

(11) Informe de la UNESCO: el acceso al deporte de las mujeres y las niñas sigue sufriendo un importante retraso [UNESCO Report: Access to Sport for Women and Girls Continues to Face Significant Barriers] (2024)

(12) Joint Statement from Legal Experts on Genetic Sex Testing in Sport (2026)