Intersex rights in Mexico

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Intersex rights in Mexico
Mexico (orthographic projection).svg
Protection of physical integrity and bodily autonomy No
Protection from discrimination No

In Mexico there are no explicit rights reserved to intersex persons, no protections from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions on intersex children and no legislative protection from discrimination. Intersex persons may have difficulties in obtaining necessary health care.

Contents

History

In April 2018, Latin American and Caribbean intersex activists published the San José de Costa Rica statement, defining local demands. [1]

Physical integrity and bodily autonomy

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Legal prohibition of non-consensual medical interventions
Regulatory suspension of non-consensual medical interventions Protection of intersex children from harmful practices.svg
  Legal prohibition of non-consensual medical interventions
  Regulatory suspension of non-consensual medical interventions

The intersex civil society organization Brújula Intersexual calls for self-determination by intersex people. [2] It documents the health and human rights situation facing intersex people in Mexico, and in the Latin American region more broadly, including societal taboos, incomprehension, unnecessary medicalization, and discrimination. [3] [4] [5] Ricardo Baruch, writing in Animal Politico and citing Laura Inter, describes the situation on where intersex is constantly left out of discussion or policy because it is not very understood, even though it is a biological situation. [6]

In March 2017, a representative of Brújula Intersexual, testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the human rights situation facing intersex people in Latin America. [7] [8]

In July 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued concluding observations on harmful practices, recommending that Mexico "explicitly prohibiting the performance of unnecessary surgical or other medical treatment on intersex children" until they can consent. The committee also called for the provision of counselling and support to families. [9]

Protection from discrimination

Explicit protection from discrimination on grounds of sex characteristics
Explicit protection on grounds of intersex status
Explicit protection on grounds of intersex within attribute of sex Inclusion of sex characteristics in anti-discrimination law.svg
  Explicit protection from discrimination on grounds of sex characteristics
  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex status
  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex within attribute of sex

Brújula Intersexual has found that few doctors are trained and sensitized on intersex issues, leading to a tendency to recommend genital surgeries or hormonal treatments to create "normality" even where individuals have escaped such intersex medical interventions as children. [6] It has documented problems with medical examinations and treatments as a result of such practices. [4] Brújula Intersexual has also documented significant levels of poverty and disparities in access to health care based upon family wealth and income. [4] [5]

Identification documents

Laura Inter of Brújula Intersexual and Eva Alcántara of UAM Xochimilco have cited arguments that the most pressing problems facing intersex people are treatment to enforce a sex binary, and not the existence of the sex binary itself. [10] Laura Inter has imagined a society where sex or gender classifications are removed from birth certificates and other official identification documents, [4] and Brújula Intersexual has called for a right to legal documentation with no obligation to state any gender, in a submission to a review of the Yogyakarta Principles. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Mauro Cabral Grinspan, also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the executive director of GATE. A signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles, his work focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law reform. In July 2015, Cabral received the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award.

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Brújula Intersexual is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Mexico, and across Latin America. Founded in 2013, Brújula Intersexual provides peer support, education and information.

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Intersex people in Argentina have no recognition of their rights to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, and no specific protections from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics. Cases also exist of children being denied access to birth certificates without their parents consenting to medical interventions. The National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism and civil society organizations such as Justicia Intersex have called for the prohibition of unnecessary medical interventions and access to redress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in Switzerland</span> Overview of intersex peoples rights in Switzerland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in Spain</span> Overview of intersex peoples rights in Spain

Citizens of Spain who are intersex face problems that the wider society does not encounter. Laws that provide protection against discrimination or genital mutilation for intersex people exist only in some autonomous communities rather than on a national level. The 3/2007 law is the current law in Spain which relates to legal gender change including the rights of intersex people, although a new law is about to be passed in the near future.

References

  1. Participants at the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Conference of Intersex Persons (April 13, 2018). "San José de Costa Rica Statement". Brújula Intersexual . Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  2. Rodrigo, Borja (December 11, 2016). "Intersexualidad: La ablación legal al servicio del género". El Mundo . Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  3. Inter, Laura (2015). "Finding My Compass". Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics . 5 (2): 95–98. doi:10.1353/nib.2015.0039. PMID   26300133. S2CID   20101103.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Inter, Laura (October 3, 2016). "The situation of the intersex community in Mexico". Intersex Day . Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  5. 1 2 Inter, Laura (October 28, 2016). "La situación de la comunidad intersexual de México*". Diario Avanzada. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  6. 1 2 Baruch, Ricardo (October 13, 2016), Sí, hay personas intersexuales en México, Animal Politico, archived from the original on June 12, 2017
  7. LATFEM Periodismo feminista (2017-03-20). "Las voces de las personas intersex ante la Comisión Interamericana". LATFEM. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  8. Fonseca, Sarah (October 26, 2016), "This Intersex Awareness Day, some notes on the 'I' in LGBTQI", URGE, archived from the original on April 29, 2017
  9. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (July 2018). "Concluding observations on the ninth periodic report of Mexico" . Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  10. Alcántara, Eva; Inter, Laura (March 2015). "Intersexualidad y derechos humanos" (PDF). Dfensor. Inter-American Court of Human Rights: 28–32. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-19.
  11. Inter, Laura; Aoi, Hana (February 23, 2017). "Submission on the Yogyakarta Principles: Human rights issues and perspectives from the experience of the intersex community in Mexico". Brújula Intersexual.

Bibliography