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The point about testing is important.
I got into a disagreement with a (generally gender-woo sceptical) woman in my life over the Olympic Boxing. Her stance was basically that she didn't trust the Russian Boxing body (IBA) and thought they were trying to stir up trouble, although she didn't seem to want to think too hard on the topic (trying to explain to her the nuances with DSDs - that somebody could have thought of themselves as a female their entire life and still have male sex advantage, was hopeless)
I thought the conspiracy angle was a bit far-fetched, both because I couldn't see what use Putin or some Oligarch would have to claim an Algerian and Taiwanese Boxer were XY (which was presumably what this woman thought was going on?) and because external testing agencies and an appeal process were in place. That being said, I wasn't exactly willing or able to defend the credibility of the IBA.
But crucially, I shouldn't have had to. The IOC should have had sex-testing. Unless a sport's governing body is literally claiming that male sex advantage doesn't exist at all, even without testosterone suppression, then testing for DSDs should be routine in woman's sport. It's not even that onerous - in principle, it only has to be done once in an athlete's whole career. The most annoying thing about the Boxing controversy was that nobody could be sure about the facts of the situation, because the testing wasn't done by a (universally-agreed) credible body.
This long but very well written piece from 2023 not only puts out to pasture the idea that the IBA is a "discredited organization" or is "not to be trusted" or whatever—a serious debunking of an altogether unserious line of criticism (I've never heard much in the way of actual reasons why the IBA is such a bad guy, beyond "Russia baaaddd!")—but also makes a convincing case that the IBA (and specifically its head, Umar Kremlev) is the only governing organization that currently acts with any sort of stewardship towards the athletes' future security, financially and otherwise.
The IOC punted on this, deferring to the individual sports governing bodies. Then disallowed the boxing governing body, so they were left with nothing but a passport.
The NCAA is taking a similar stance, letting the "individual" sports decide.
I bet it's increasingly distressing for Reem Alsalem—a Woman of great integrity and common sense—to have the name of the UN, an absolute joke of an organization without an ounce of either, hung like an albatross around Her neck every single time Her name is mentioned in one of these articles.
I really like Reem Alsalem and it’s good to hear some actual common sense. I would go a step further and not just do a cheek swab for those where their sex is uncertain and, instead, do cheek swabs as standard for all athletes in the female categories. It’s non-invasive, most athletes are in favour, and there’s absolutely no room for ambiguity if everybody has one.