Discrimination against intersex people
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".
[2][3] Intersex people face discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, sport, with an impact on mental and physical health, and on poverty levels, including as a result of harmful medical practices.
[27]In addition, the resolution also requests that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a report "examining in detail discriminatory laws and policies, acts of violence and harmful practices against persons with innate variations in sex characteristics, in all regions of the world.
Such de-selection or selective abortions are incompatible with ethics and human rights standards due to the discrimination perpetrated against intersex people on the basis of their sex characteristics.
[33] Hong Kong activist Small Luk reports that this is not uncommon, in part due to the historic imposition of a policy of one child per family.
[41][42] Where these occur without personal informed consent, these are "violations of their rights to health and physical integrity, to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and to equality and non-discrimination.
[43] Overall, while some parents and physicians had attempted to empower participants, the study found "strong evidence suggesting a pattern of institutionalised shaming and coercive treatment" and poor (or no) information provision.
OII Europe reports: A German study conducted by a medical team between 2005 and 2007 covered the experiences of 439 intersex individuals of all ages, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
[45][46] Medical professionals have traditionally considered the worst outcomes after genital reconstruction in infancy to occur when the person develops a gender identity discordant with the sex assigned as an infant.
In a major Parliamentary report in Australia, published in October 2013, the Senate Community Affairs References committee was "disturbed" by the possible implications of current practices in the treatment of cancer risk.
[55][56][57] According to Creighton et al, the "experience of being photographed has exemplified for many people with intersex conditions the powerlessness and humiliation felt during medical investigations and interventions".
[57] Adults with intersex variations report poor mental health due to experiences of medicalization,[58] with many individuals avoiding care as a result.
To decrease such severe discrimination against intersex people, some researchers advocate more public information about the error sources in the sexological studies that are said to show such sex differences.
Multiple anecdotal reports, including from Hong Kong and Kenya point to high levels of suicidality amongst intersex people.
[38] The Australian study found that schools lacked inclusive services such as relevant puberty and sex education curricula and counselling, for example, not representing a full range of human bodily diversity.
[64] OII Europe states that "stigma, structural and verbal discrimination, harassment" as well as harmful practices and lack of legal recognition can lead to "inadequate education, broken careers and poverty (including homelessness) due to pathologisation and related trauma, a disturbed family life due to taboo and medicalisation, lack of self-esteem and a high risk of becoming suicidal.
[69] Researchers have also documented frequent experiences of workplaces rejection among intersex individuals in Mexico, including social exclusion, offensive comments, harassment, unequal treatment, and violence.
[76][77] In 2013, Germany became the first European nation to allow babies with characteristics of both sexes to be registered as indeterminate gender on birth certificates, amidst opposition and skepticism from intersex organisations who point out that the law appears to mandate exclusion from male or female categories.
[80][81][82] Currently suspended IAAF regulations on hyperandrogenism "mandated that national Olympic committees 'actively investigate any perceived deviation in sex characteristics'" in women athletes.
[94] The organization has previously highlighted evasive government statements to UN Treaty Bodies that conflate intersex, transgender and LGBT issues, instead of addressing harmful practices on infants.
