Abused Over Controversial Gender Debate, Imane Khelif Files Legal Complaint With Paris Prosecutor Over Online Harassment

Algerian boxer and Olympic Gold medalist Imane Khelif has taken legal action against all the hate she has faced over her gender misconception during the 2024 Paris Olympics run. The 25-year-old clinched gold on Friday after defeating Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the finals of the women’s welterweight division. However, she started facing harassment well before that.

The waves of online abuse began when Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini, as people across the globe viciously attacked her online over her gender. It’s worth mentioning that Khelif suffers from a condition, which resulted in her having XY chromosomes despite being born a biological female. However, that hardly stopped hordes of prominent individuals from slamming her, claiming that she was in fact a biological male. Regardless, after securing gold, Khelif seems to have had enough. 

Breaking point

According to a tweet from Boxing Kingdom, “Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a legal complaint over online harassment‼️” Khelif’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, also revealed that the complaint had been filed with the Paris Prosecutor’s Office on Friday. Interestingly, Khelif herself had suggested she would take action to change people’s minds. 

“All that is being said about me on social media is immoral. I want to change the minds of people around the world,” she stated. Just after her final bout at the famous Roland Garros Stadium, Khelif had started pushing back at her critics, addressing whether she was qualified to participate in the women’s category at the Olympics.

“I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived a woman, I competed as a woman, there’s no doubt about that,” Khelif said. She branded people who commented on her gender, as “enemies of success”, and said, “[It] gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”

Imane is only one of the two boxers who was the target of gender misconception during this year’s Olympics. Lin Yu-ting of China faced similar problems during her Olympic run, and similar to Khelif, she also won gold in the 57kg final class on Saturday. However, this was in no way the first time Khelif has spoken out about the bullying she faced online.

Imane Khelif asks people to stop bullying

Imane Khelif has called for an end to the bullying she has faced over gender-related issues. After her victory over Anna Luca Hamori in the 66kg quarter-finals, Khelif urged, “I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympics principles, according to the Olympics charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes because this thing has effects, massive effects.” She highlighted how such harassment can “destroy people, kill people’s thoughts, spirit, and mind.”

Reflecting on recent controversies, including her swift win against Angela Carini, Khelif noted, “They took advantage of the media campaign against me to affect me but I will work to reach the goal I am here for.” Just before her semi-final match against Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, Khelif said, “What’s important is that I came here with focus on my goal, which is the Olympics.”

It appears Imane Khelif has had enough of the bullying and is ready to take legal action against people online. However, how effective this lawsuit will be is yet to be seen. What do you think about her move?