Aug 3, 2024; Paris, France; Imane Khelif (ALG) reacts after defeating Anna Luca Hamori (HUN) in a women’s 66kg boxing quarterfinal during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at North Paris Arena. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Sports Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Sports via IMAGN
In the wake of her gold medal win, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a legal complaint in France after being faced with a wave of online harassment brought on by false claims that she is transgender.
The complaint was filed Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office focused on stopping online hate speech. Khelif’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said Khelif was the victim of “aggravated cyber-harassment,” which he described as “a misogynist, racist, and sexist campaign” in a statement.
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Khelif, who is a cisgender woman, has been victimized by anti-trans bigots, including prominent people such as Elon Musk, JK Rowling, and former president Donald Trump, all of whom have shared baseless claims that she is secretly a man or transgender. She is neither.
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The statement reads, “After the sporting time, comes the legal time. Having just won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, boxer Imane Khelif has decided to lead a new fight: that of justice, dignity, and honor. Ms. Khelif contacted the firm which filed a complaint yesterday for acts of cyber harassment aggravated by the anti-online hatred center of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.”
It continues, “The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign, but will also have to focus on those who fueled this digital lynching. The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games.”
Khelif was already the subject of online hate after she allegedly failed a gender test and was disqualified from the women’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA), along with Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stopped recognizing the IBA. The IOC has called the gender tests that the IBA used irretrievably flawed and has defended both boxers since the start of the Paris games. Both passed the IOC’s own set of eligibility qualifications for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Experts say that women from the Global South are the ones victimized by public scrutiny about their gender, and the accusations are rooted in racism.
Per French law, it is now up to prosecutors to decide whether to open an investigation and decide who to hold responsible.
Khelif was the flag bearer for Algeria’s closing ceremony after she won gold in the women’s welterweight competition against Yang Liu of China. The two women smiled and raised their hands after the match, a stark contrast to some other athletes who have been hostile to Khelif.
About her win and her gender, Khelif said “I was born a girl, I grew up a girl, I studied as a girl and I fought like a girl. Those who attacked me? Of course, they were enemies of glory. But, without them, my victory would not have been so satisfying.”
