Human Rights between the Sexes

Last updated
Human Rights between the Sexes
Human Rights between the Sexes.jpg
Author Dan Christian Ghattas
Cover artist Ins A Kromminga
Language
  • English
  • German
Genre
Publisher Heinrich Böll Foundation
Publication date
18 October 2013
Publication placeGermany
Media typePrint (paperback)
PDF
Pages68
ISBN 978-3-86928-115-5

Human Rights between the Sexes is an analysis of the human rights of intersex people in 12 countries. It was written by Dan Christian Ghattas of the Internationalen Vereinigung Intergeschlechtlicher Menschen (the Organisation Intersex International (OII) in Germany) and published in October 2013 by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. [1] [2] [3] [4] The countries studied were Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand, Serbia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine and Uruguay. [5]

Contents

Synopsis

The report is believed to be the first comparative international analysis of the human rights of intersex people. [6] It found that intersex people are discriminated against worldwide. [7]

Ghattas states:

Intersex individuals are considered individuals with a «disorder» in all areas in which Western medicine prevails. They are more or less obviously treated as sick or «abnormal», depending on the respective society.

Ghattas found that: [6] [8]

Nearly all over the world, intersex bodies are considered to be barely, or not at all, capable of being integrated into the social order.

Ghattas makes five conclusions for human rights organisations:

  1. Raise awareness of the existence of intersex individuals.
  2. Increase visibility of intersex individuals and life situations.
  3. Encourage intersex people to self-organise and voice needs.
  4. Promote collaboration with NGOs.
  5. Take account of the needs of intersex people in all areas of human rights work.

The book is published in German as Menschenrechte zwischen den Geschlechtern. [4] [7] [9]

The book can be downloaded for free in either English or German.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a German, legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with Alliance 90/The Greens, it was founded in 1997 when three predecessors merged. The foundation was named after German writer Heinrich Böll (1917–1985).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organisation Intersex International</span>

The Organisation Intersex International (OII) is a global advocacy and support group for people with intersex traits. According to Milton Diamond, it is the world's largest organization of intersex persons. A decentralised network, OII was founded in 2003 by Curtis Hinkle and Sarita Vincent Guillot. Upon Hinkle's retirement, American intersex activist Hida Viloria served as Chairperson/President elect from April 2011 through November 2017, when they resigned in order to focus on OII's American affiliate, OII-USA's transition into the independent American non-profit, the Intersex Campaign for Equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex</span> Atypical congenital variations of sex characteristics

Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex Human Rights Australia</span> Intersex organization in Australia

Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Australia, and provides education and information services. Established in 2009 and incorporated as a charitable company in 2010, it was formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia, or OII Australia. It is recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hida Viloria</span> American activist (born 1968)

Hida Viloria is an American writer, author, producer, and human rights activist of Latin American origin. Viloria is intersex, nonbinary, and genderfluid, using they/them pronouns. They are known for their writing, their intersex and non-binary human rights activism, and as one of the first people to come out in national and international media as a nonbinary intersex person. Viloria is Founding Director of the Intersex Campaign for Equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Intersex Forum</span>

The International Intersex Forum is an annual event organised, then later supported, by the ILGA and ILGA-Europe that and organisations from multiple regions of the world, and it is believed to be the first and only such intersex event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OII Europe</span> Intersex human rights organisation

OII Europe is the umbrella organisation of European human rights-based intersex organisations. It is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which is working for the protection and full implementation of intersex people's human rights in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Literature about intersex</span>

Intersex, in humans and other animals, describes variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, 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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex Day of Remembrance</span> Annual observance

Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Solidarity Day, is an internationally observed civil awareness day designed to highlight issues faced by intersex people. It marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by Michel Foucault in Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Christian Ghattas</span> Intersex activist

Dan Christian Ghattas is an intersex activist, university lecturer and author who co-founded OII Europe in 2012 and is now executive director. In 2013, he authored Human Rights between the Sexes, a first comparative international analysis of the human rights situation of intersex people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex human rights</span> Human rights for 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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal recognition of intersex people</span>

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discrimination against intersex people</span>

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". "Because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatized and subjected to multiple human rights violations".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex and LGBT</span> Relationship between different sex and gender minorities

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) than endosex people. According to a study done in Australia of Australian citizens with intersex conditions, participants labeled 'heterosexual' as the most popular single label with the rest being scattered among various other labels. According to another study, an estimated 8.5% to 20% experiencing gender dysphoria. Although many intersex people are heterosexual and cisgender, and not all of them identify as LGBTQ+, this overlap and "shared experiences of harm arising from dominant societal sex and gender norms" has led to intersex people often being included under the LGBT umbrella, with the acronym sometimes expanded to LGBTI. Some intersex activists and organisations have criticised this inclusion as distracting from intersex-specific issues such as involuntary medical interventions.

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

Intersex rights in Australia are protections and rights afforded to intersex people through statutes, regulations, and international human rights treaties, including through the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based upon that person's intersex status in contexts such as work, education, provision of services, and accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malta declaration (International Intersex Forum)</span> Statement of the Third International Intersex Forum, which took place in Valletta, Malta, in 2013

The Malta declaration is the statement of the Third International Intersex Forum, which took place in Valletta, Malta, in 2013. The event was supported by the ILGA and ILGA-Europe and brought together 34 people representing 30 organisations from multiple regions of the world.

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

Intersex people in Germany have legal recognition of their rights to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, with exceptions, but no specific protections from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics. In response to an inquiry by the German Ethics Council in 2012, the government passed legislation in 2013 designed to classify some intersex infants as a de facto third category. The legislation has been criticized by civil society and human rights organizations as misguided.

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

Intersex people in the United Kingdom face significant gaps in legal protections, particularly in protection from non-consensual medical interventions, and protection from discrimination. Actions by intersex civil society organisations aim to eliminate unnecessary medical interventions and harmful practices, promote social acceptance, and equality in line with Council of Europe and United Nations demands. Intersex civil society organisations campaign for greater social acceptance, understanding of issues of bodily autonomy, and recognition of the human rights of intersex people.

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

Intersex rights in China including the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, etc., are protections and rights afforded to intersex people through legislation and regulation. Obligations also arise in United Nations member states that sign international human rights treaties, such as the People's Republic of China. Intersex people in China suffer discrimination. Issues include both lack of access to health care and coercive genital surgeries.

References

  1. Ghattas, Dan Christian; Heinrich Böll Foundation (September 2013). "Human Rights Between the Sexes" (PDF). boell.de.
  2. "Dr. Dan Christian Ghattas". intersexualite.de (in German). OII Germany. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  3. "A preliminary study on the life situations of inter* individuals". oiieurope.org. OII Europe. 4 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Menschenrechte zwischen den Geschlechtern". boell.de (in German). Heinrich Böll Foundation. October 2013.
  5. "Heinrich Böll Foundation's Intersex Study: "Human Rights between Sexes"". kaosgl.com. KAOS GL. 1 November 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Human rights between the sexes, a study". oii.org.au. Organisation Intersex International Australia. 11 January 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Studie: Intersexuelle werden weltweit diskriminiert". epd.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2014-01-11., Evangelischer Pressedienst
  8. "Nicht Mann, niche Frau. Intersexuelle müssen sich nicht mehr festlegen". 3sat.de (in German). 3sat. 30 October 2013.
  9. "Menschenrechte zwischen den Geschlechtern – Vorstudie zur Lebenssituation von Inter*Personen; Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin, 18.12.13 (Mi), 18 Uhr". gender.hu-berlin.de ZtG Blog (in German). Gender Studies an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 3 December 2013.