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Journalism of Courage
LAST WEEK, 27-year-old Ugandan Annet Negesa was granted asylum in Germany nearly three months after she travelled to Berlin. Negesa, an inter-sex athlete, feared for her life in her country where LGBTQ people are often persecuted — death penalty is being proposed.
Negesa owes her new life in Germany to athletes’ gender activist and researcher Dr Payoshni Mitra.
Payoshni was an expert on the panel for defending 800 metres Olympic champion Caster Semenya when the South African challenged the rules, which put a cap on testosterone levels in women athletes. She was also the one Indian sprinter Dutee Chand turned to for support in her case against World Athletics — previously known as IAAF — over similar regulations.
When Negesa, a former world junior bronze medallist in 800 metres, wanted to break her silence about how her career fell apart in 2012 after being asked to undergo surgery to be eligible to participate, she turned to Payoshni.
“A fellow athlete who knew about my plight asked me if I wanted to speak to Payoshni as she could help. I shared my number and got in touch with Payoshni,” Negesa says about the first interaction between her and the Kolkata-born activist in June.
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They met in the capital of another African country and a bond of trust was built, Negesa says. “Meeting her was very helpful and important in terms of getting courage for standing in front of people and talking about what happened to me. She also helped me connect with people who could help me at a time when I felt my life was in danger in Uganda,” says Negesa.
London-based Payoshni has made multiple trips to Africa to talk to athletes whose careers have come to a halt because of female eligibility rules — and its previous version, hyperandrogenism guidelines.
“Negesa felt very unsafe and fearful. Recently in October a gay rights activist was killed in Uganda. There have been several other cases of violence against LGBTIQ+ people in Uganda,” Payoshni says.
“Negesa identifies as an intersex person and even though we all think that internationally her story was all kept confidential (Differences in Sexual Development – DSD – athletes affected by the eligibility rules), it wasn’t. In the immediate sports fraternity, people know which athlete may have a DSD or may have high testosterone. So people in Ugandan athletics community knew what happened to her in 2012, why she suddenly stopped competing. Negesa used to forward me links about incidents of violence against the LGBTIQ+ community in Uganda. She was not safe,” she says. Presently, Payoshni is helping several athletes from the African continent. Venues of meetings, travel plans and identities are closely guarded so as to avoid the risk of these athletes facing any threat if they are from countries which have strict anti-gay laws.
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The initial conversations between the two over a social media platform was often interrupted as Negesa ran out of data and it took time for her to find enough money to get a top-up. No longer the world-class athlete she was post-surgery, Negesa was reduced to doing menial jobs.
In June, just before she reached out to Payoshni, she was working on a site where sheds were being built for cattle.
Payoshni calls athletes like Negesa as “disappeared athletes” because once they are not allowed to compete they fall off the radar and the World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, turns a blind eye to them.
“I am worried because in some conservative countries in the world, like Uganda, the DSD regulations put athletes at risk of receiving such violence. I am working with current athletes, including those in Africa, who have faced public humiliation, loss of livelihood, severe impoverishment, marginalisation by family and friends for being dropped from certain specific track events. These regulations coerce young athletes to take medical steps, which is what we notice in Negesa’s case. Even if one tries to switch her events, she is still outed. This must stop,” Payoshni says.
World Athletics’ Eligibility Rules for Female Classification requires DSD athletes to take hormone suppressants and lower testosterone levels below five nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) to compete internationally between 400m to a mile.
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Negesa is looking forward to a new life in Berlin. She has already contacted a coach to see how she can stay in touch with track and field. She hopes to travel to Uganda but currently makes do with telephone calls to her family. “I have been talking to my parents and siblings and they just keep asking me when I am coming back,” Negesa says.
Seeking out Payoshni’s help and being part of a documentary by German broadcaster ARD on athletes affected by DSD regulations was a turning point in Negesa’s life. “I wanted the athletics body to come to know that what they are doing is not good for athletes. It not only destroys a person’s life but also a person’s dreams. What happened to me was not right and other female athletes who are affected by DSD regulations should not have to go through such things,” she says.
After the documentary was aired, in a statement issued in October, World Athletics said: “The IAAF has never forced any athlete affected by its regulations to undergo surgery, nor paid for any of their treatment. It has in some cases paid for the medical investigation and diagnosis of the athlete by an independent medical centre so the athlete is fully aware of her condition.”
