Women Speak Tasmania has called on the Tasmanian Government to urgently address the growing impact of sex self-identification laws on women’s sport. Our concerns are backed by the latest report from Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, who has raised serious warnings about the erosion of safety and fairness when women’s sports are opened to males.
The Evidence is Clear
In her 2024 report Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport, Reem Alsalem highlighted the biological realities that underpin sport:
- Physical risk to women – Female athletes are significantly more vulnerable to injury when competing against males. One study cited in the report found that the least powerful man produced more power than the most powerful woman. Even when men and women have equal fitness levels, men’s average punching power is 162% greater.
- Olympic failures – At the 2024 Paris Olympics, female boxers were forced to compete against athletes whose sex was contested. Despite the availability of simple, non-invasive cheek swab technology to confirm sex, the International Olympic Committee refused to conduct sex verification.
- Lost opportunities for women – Over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost out on medals, placings, and sporting recognition because males who identify as women were permitted to compete in women’s categories.
Why This Matters in Tasmania
Women Speak Tasmania has received multiple complaints from local community sports—including soccer, netball, cycling, ten pin bowling, and lawn bowls—where women have been displaced by trans-identified males. This is not a distant or abstract issue; it is happening here in Tasmania.
Sports were separated by sex for a reason: to ensure women could compete safely and fairly. When women are forced to compete against males, both their safety and their opportunities are compromised.
Our Position
We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to participate in sport—but not at the expense of women’s safety, privacy, and fairness. Women-only sporting categories must remain protected.
That is why we are calling on the Tasmanian Government to hold an immediate inquiry into the impacts of sex self-ID laws on women’s sport, and to ensure that female athletes in Tasmania do not lose the protections that generations of women fought to achieve.
Fairness, safety, and opportunity are not optional extras. They are the foundation of sport—and women deserve nothing less.