WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) respond to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls report that unapologetically demands member countries keep males out of female sports and stop punishing women and girls who stand up for their equal rights in sports.
The 24-page report, which the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee today, explores the various forms, causes and consequences of violence against women and girls in sports. The report addresses the physical harm that has resulted from males participating in female divisions, such as “knocked-out teeth, concussions resulting in neural impairment, broken legs and skull fractures,” and the biological differences between men and women.
The “Physical violence” section of the report cites Payton McNabb, an Independent Women’s Forum ambassador who was severely injured by a male on the opposing team during a volleyball match in the fall of 2022. McNabb was knocked unconscious and exhibited a fencing response after a forceful blow to the head from a volleyball spike by a biological male playing on the opponent’s team. The sheer impact of the ball has left McNabb with significant long-term physical and mental effects, including impaired vision, partial paralysis, and anxiety and depression.
Among the findings in the UN report include:
- “Pharmaceutical testosterone suppression for genetically male athletes – irrespective of how they identify – will not eliminate the set of comparative performance advantages they have already acquired.”
- “Male athletes have specific attributes considered advantageous in certain sports, such as strength and testosterone levels that are higher than those of the average range for females, even before puberty, thereby resulting in the loss of fair opportunity.”
- Men in women’s sports “causes extreme psychological distress due to the physical disadvantage, the loss of opportunity for fair competition and of educational and economic opportunities and the violation of their privacy in locker rooms and other intimate spaces.”
- The courage to speak out against males competing in female sports comes at a cost, the report says, noting that “[f]emale athletes and coaches who object to the inclusion of men in their spaces due to concerns about safety, privacy and fairness are silenced or forced to self-censor; otherwise, they risk losing sporting opportunities, scholarships and sponsorships.”
- “Many are also accused of bigotry, suspended from sports teams and subjected to restraining orders, expulsion, defamation and unfair disciplinary proceedings.”
May Mailman, Independent Women’s Law Center director, responding to the UN’s report, said, “The NCAA, professional sports like the LPGA, and the 24 states that continue to elevate men into women’s sports should be mortified that the United Nations recognizes their violence against women. The UN presents an outrageously low bar for human rights, waiting 8 weeks, for example, to condemn brutal assaults against Jewish women on October 7, 2023. That even the UN understands that women deserve single-sex sports is not only embarrassing for those groups who disagree; it’s immoral.”
The UN’s full report can be found HERE.
Learn more about Independent Women’s Forum’s work to protect women’s sports:
- Drove personalized letters from more than 7,000 NCAA female athletes to the NCAA Board of Governors, calling on its members to amend the policies to protect the women’s collegiate sporting category.
- Led the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour, traveling coast to coast, visiting 30 states in 30 days. The tour featured over 50 speakers, including NCAA female athletes, renowned Olympians, and coaches, to build upon the growing calls to restore fairness in women’s sports.
- IWF and Independent Women’s Law Center have produced a first-of-its-kind report entitled, “Competition Report: Title IX, Male-Bodied Athletes, and the Threat To Women’s Sports,” to help athletic associations, policymakers, and courts understand the growing threat to female athletes.
- IWF, alongside a coalition of women’s advocacy groups, led the second “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally and protest outside the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more about the rally HERE.