Intersex rights in Argentina

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Intersex rights in Argentina
Argentina (orthographic projection).svg
Argentina
Protection of physical integrity and bodily autonomy No
Protection from discrimination No
Access to identification documents No
Changing M/F sex classifications Yes
Third gender or sex classifications Yes
MarriageYes

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.

Contents

History

The first public discussions on intersex issues in Argentina took place in 1995, and in 2005, regional trans and intersex activists first gathered. [1] Argentinian intersex and transgender rights activist Mauro Cabral was a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles in 2006. A collection of essays, titled Interdicciones was published in 2009. [2]

The first UN report to condemn irreversible and involuntary medical interventions was published by Argentinian Juan E. Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, in 2013. [3]

In April 2018, Latin American and Caribbean intersex activists published the San José de Costa Rica statement, defining local demands. [4]

Physical integrity and bodily autonomy

.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} 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

In 2013, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, condemned intersex medical interventions intended to “fix" the sex of children born with atypical sex characteristics, finding that this could lead to "permanent, irreversible infertility and causing severe mental suffering". [3] The report stressed the powerlessness of stigmatized groups, and the centrality of informed consent. [1] The report called for the repeal of laws permitting irreversible medical interventions, including coercive genital surgeries and gonadectomies. Similar calls have been made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. [5]

In a 2015 paper, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) called for recognition of the rights of intersex people to bodily integrity and autonomy in medical decisions. [1] INADI called for the deferral of medically unnecessary interventions, and access to health for all intersex people regardless of prior medical treatment.

In 2017, a joint submission to the UN Committee Against Torture by Justicia Intersex and Zwischengeschlecht identified a lack of legal protection of rights to physical and mental integrity, and to self-determination, and no measure to ensure data collection and monitoring, accountability or redress. [6] The report stated that provisions on patient and children's rights were not applied to intersex persons, and relevant institutions were supportive of unnecessary medical interventions, or indifferent to them. The report cited a 2010 paper by Bailez and others that suggested early gonadectomies, even in cases of very low cancer risk, stating that these provide a psychological benefit for parents. [6] It also reported 2016 guidance by the Argentinian Civil Association for Pediatric Surgery calls for "clitoridectomy for intersex status", and multiple research papers by Hospital Gutierrez reporting poor surgical outcomes, lack of sexual desire in post-surgical patients, anxiety and depression. [6] Complications from masculinizing surgeries, medical display, and the use of prenatal treatments are also described. [6]

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

In 2015, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) published a report on intersex. [1] The report described sex as a cultural category, based on socially-determined parameters, in addition to being a biological or bodily category. It recommended action to prevent bullying and discrimination on the basis of bodily characteristics in schools, and the development of appropriate educational content.

Identification documents

A 2017 civil society submission to the United Nations Committee Against Torture identified two cases of children denied birth certificates without parental consent to irreversible medical interventions. [6]

The Ley de Género (Gender Law), [7] grants adults sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy as a part of their public or private health care plans. The law also allows for changes to gender, image, or birth name on civil registries without the approval of a doctor or a judge. [8] The law made Argentina the first country to allow people to change their gender identity without any kind of medical intervention or certification. [8] [9]

The law does not permit a third option, and the possibility of constructing a third option on the basis of biology, or medical treatment, has been criticized by Mauro Cabral Grinspan, stating that an Australian legal case affirmed a correspondence between physical characteristics and gender identity. [10] [1] Cabral has also written that, "People tend to identify a third sex with freedom from the gender binary, but that is not necessarily the case. If only trans and/or intersex people can access that third category, or if they are compulsively assigned to a third sex, then the gender binary gets stronger, not weaker." [11]

Marriage

Upon legalising same-sex marriage on July 15, 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth in the world to do so. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex characteristics (legal term)</span>

In law, sex characteristic refers to an attribute defined for the purposes of protecting individuals from discrimination due to their sexual features. The attribute of sex characteristics was first defined in national law in Malta in 2015. The legal term has since been adopted by United Nations, European, and Asia-Pacific institutions, and in a 2017 update to the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism</span>

The National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism was a state agency of the Government of Argentina which is charged with receiving complaints and pursuing charges against citizens accused of acts of discrimination or hatred. Created in 1995 by Federal Law 24515, INADI is considered one of Argentina's National human rights institutions. On 22 February 2024, the government of Javier Milei announced that it would close INADI permanently.

Advocates for Informed Choice, dba interACT or interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization advocating for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organization was founded in 2006 and formally incorporated on April 12, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauro Cabral Grinspan</span> Argentinian transgender activist

Mauro Cabral Grinspan, also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the Senior Officer for Gender Justice and Equity at the Global Philanthropy Project. Before that, he was the Executive Director of GATE. His work - as a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles - focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law reform. In July 2015, Cabral received the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award.

Zwischengeschlecht is a human rights advocacy group campaigning on intersex bodily autonomy issues. The group demonstrates outside medical events where surgical interventions are discussed or performed, engages with the media, and participates in consultations with human rights institutions.

<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 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">Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Argentina)</span> Government ministry in Argentina

The Ministry of Justice of Argentina is a ministry of the national executive power tasked with enforcing of the law and administration of justice.

<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, 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">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 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 Chile</span>

Since November 7, 2023, Chile bans unnecessary and non-consensual surgeries, procedures or medical treatments on intersex newborns, boys, girls and adolescents. Since March 15, 2022, Chile bans discrimination based on "sex characteristics" under Law 21,430 on Guarantees and Integral Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents. The country has the most advanced legal protection framework in Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in Colombia</span>

In 1999, the Constitutional Court of Colombia became the first court to consider the human rights implications of medical interventions to alter the sex characteristics of intersex children. The Court restricted the age at which intersex children could be the subjects of surgical interventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex human rights reports</span>

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". Such variations may involve genital ambiguity, and combinations of chromosomal genotype and sexual phenotype other than XY-male and XX-female.

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

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.

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

Intersex people in Switzerland have no recognition of rights to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, and no specific protections from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics. In 2012, the Swiss National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics published a report on the medical management of differences of sex development or intersex variations.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alba Rueda</span> Argentine trans activist

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mouratin, Pedro (2015). Instituto Nacional contra la Discriminación, la Xenofobia y el Racismo - INADI Documento temático INADI: Intersexualidad (PDF). Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Instituto Nacional contra la Discriminación, la Xenofobia y el Racismo (INADI). ISBN   978-987-1629-63-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  2. ↑ Cabral, Mauro, ed. (February 2009). Interdicciones: Escrituras de la intersexualidad en castellano. Córdoba, Argentina: Mulabi. ISBN   978-987-05-5898-9.
  3. 1 2 Méndez, Juan (February 2013). "Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture" (PDF). Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-08-24.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ) (November 2015), Violencia contra Personas Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales, Trans e Intersex en América (PDF), archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-01-07
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Justicia Intersex; Zwischengeschlecht.org (March 2017). "NGO Report to the 6th and 7th Periodic Report of Argentina on the Convention Against Torture (CAT)" (PDF). Buenos Aires. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-01-04.
  7. ↑ Archived 16 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 "Argentina OKs transgender rights: ID changes, sex-change operations and hormone therapy". The Washington Post . 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. ↑ Lahrichi, Kamilia; La Valle, Leo (April 4, 2016). "Argentina's Field of Dreams for the LGBT". U.S. News & World Report . U.S. News & World Report L.P. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  10. ↑ Cabral, Mauro (December 2014). "Tercera posición en materia de género" (PDF). Derechos Humanos. 3 (8): 199–212. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-06-26.
  11. ↑ Byrne, Jack (2014). License to Be Yourself. New York: Open Society Foundations. ISBN   9781940983103. Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  12. ↑ "Argentine Senate backs bill legalising gay marriage". BBC News. 15 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.

Bibliography

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