Should Caster Semenya Have to Undergo Gender Tests - Article Example

Karenga (2009 p 1) supposes that were it not for Mokgadi Caster Semenya’s victory, there could have been no reason for her to undergo the sex verification. The International Association of Athletics Foundations failed fans as well as Ms. Semenya. This is because the suitability of Ms. Semenya to participate in the sport should have been evaluated before the international competition. The athlete’s self-definition made her believe that she was female. Having no expertise in human anatomy or gynecology, she could not have considered the technical aspects that experts later revealed regarding her hidden male characteristics.

As Karenga (2009 p 1) observes, the process was a violation of the athlete’s rights to protection from forceful medical procedures. There was a predetermined notion that the athlete had hidden masculine characteristics. In other words, the test was done to confirm the masculinity of African athletes, an opinion that has been held in the history of the Olympics (Karenga 2009 p 2). It was a violation of individual rights. The publicity that the issue had acquired should have caused restraint in IAAF about the decision for the sex verification, which could have been significant in protecting the athlete’s dignity, right to self-definition, and sense of her own identity.

Instead, the decision was made and implemented soon after, which demonstrated the excitement in asserting the claims that Semenya had hidden masculine aspects that would be used as the basis for invalidating her victory. The test was disenchanting to other female athletes and should never have been carried out.