The Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF) is asking on the International Olympic Committee to guard female athletes.
The IOC has come under fresh pressure over its policies after a controversial boxing match between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algerian Imane Khelif ended after just 46 seconds.
Khelif was disqualified from the ladies’s boxing world championships last 12 months after failing testosterone and gender eligibility tests but was permitted to compete within the Olympics.
Karini, 25, broke down in tears after she decided to desert the fight.
“I’m heartbroken. I went into the ring to honour my father. I used to be told plenty of times that I used to be a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I even have never felt a punch like this,” she said in a post-fight interview.
“I got into the ring and did my duty as a boxer and tried to fight no matter any controversy or anything. I desired to win. After the second blow to the nose, I could not breathe anymore. I went to my coach and said ‘enough’ since it takes maturity and courage to stop. I didn’t feel like fighting anymore.”
ADF president Kristen Waggoner said Thursday’s events were “disgraceful”.
“How many ladies’s records and bodies should be broken for institutions to rise up for girls?” she tweeted.
Many high profile figures have weighed in on the choice to permit the fight.
Reem Alsalem, the UN Special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, tweeted: “Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes shouldn’t have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “I believe that athletes who’ve male genetic characteristics shouldn’t be admitted to women’s competitions. And not because you wish to discriminate against someone, but to guard the proper of female athletes to give you the option to compete on equal terms.
“I used to be emotional yesterday when she wrote ‘I’ll fight’ since the dedication, the pinnacle, the character, surely also play a job in this stuff. But then it also matters to give you the option to compete on equal grounds and from my perspective it was not a fair contest.”
