Intersex Rights Research Articles

Intersex Rights in the Western Balkans And Greece

Intersex Rights in the Western Balkans And Greece

The Universal Periodic Review and the Ban on Intersex Genital Mutilation in an African Context

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) assesses the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States against the benchmark of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its core human rights treaties. To date, more than 100,000 recommendations have been provided to states under review (SUR) from peer Member States. Less than 1% address the rights of intersex persons. Western countries issue most of these cases, followed by the Latin American and Caribbean countries. African and Asian countries formulate a negligible number. This asymmetric data might mistakenly support the assumption that Western countries care more about the rights of intersex persons than non-Western countries. However, the recent groundbreaking Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Intersex Persons in Africa calls upon its states’ parties to stop nonconsensual genital normalisation practices on intersex persons and considers these practices as mutilation. Intersex genital mutilation (IGM) stands as a profound human rights infringement experienced by intersex individuals, who undergo medical interventions often performed on their healthy bodies. The primary objective of such interventions is to enforce conformity to prevailing medical and sociocultural norms pertaining to binary genders. I argue that Member States formulating recommendations advocating for the ban on IGM should consider contextualised factors, especially with regards to “informed consent”. This approach aims to enhance the persuasiveness of recommendations and increase the likelihood of their acceptance by SUR. Through the analysis of twenty-nine IGM-related UPR recommendations, this article addresses the effectiveness of the UPR in discussing intersex rights and the ban on IGM, with a focus on Africa.

Audit credibility and LGBTQI rights: certification operation in the margins

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to contribute to knowledge about the diversity of credibility arrangements in new audit spaces “in the margins” of auditing and the implications of such arrangements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an in-depth qualitative study of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) rights certification run by the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights (RFSL) during its first decade of operation. We have interviewed employees and studied documents at the certification units within the RFSL. We have also interviewed certified organizations.FindingsWe highlight two features that explain the unusual credibility arrangements in this audit practice: the role of beneficiaries in the organizational arrangements chosen and the role of responsibility as an organizing value with consequences for responsibility allocation in this certification. These features make it possible for the RFSL to act as a credible auditor even though it deviates from common arrangements for credible audits.Originality/valueThe RFSL certification is different in several ways. First, the RFSL acts as both a trainer and an auditor. Second, the trainers/auditors at the RFSL have no accreditation to guarantee their credibility. Third, the RFSL decides for itself what standards should apply for the certification and adapts these standards to the operation being audited. Therefore, this case provides a good opportunity to study alternative credibility arrangements in the margins of auditing as well as their justifications.

The political economy of HIV prevention in Ghana: peer education, queer social reproductive labor, and the global development industry

ABSTRACT Peer education has become an increasingly popular mode of community-level human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention around the globe. In Ghana, networks of volunteer peer educators are mobilized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct sexual health outreach among populations disproportionately affected by HIV, including men who have sex with men (MSM). In development discourse, peer education is typically rationalized in terms of its cost efficiency and “community empowerment” objectives. This article explores whether these initiatives are indeed “empowering” for the working-class men who work as MSM peer educators in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, as well as their broader impact on queer political organizing. Empirically, the article draws on ethnographic research conducted between 2013 and 2014, including participant observation in an HIV/MSM NGO, group and life story interviews with peer educators, and semi-structured interviews with key civil society actors involved in HIV/MSM and wider lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) rights work in Ghana. The article conceptualizes peer education as a form of social reproductive labor that is systematically devalued and frequently invisibilized within the global capitalist economy. It further argues that, contrary to the intervention’s core “empowerment” aims, peer education in Ghana places a disproportionate burden of responsibility on queer working-class men in dealing with the HIV epidemic, increases peer educators’ risk of homophobic violence and abuse, and engenders division between working-class queer communities and the civil society organizations that are supposed to represent them.

Equal in East and West? Regional anti-gender discourses and heterogeneity of the European Commission’s discursive protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex rights

Recent research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex (LGBTI) rights have become a core value of the European Union. Concurrently, hostility towards LGBTI rights is increasing across the European Union, including through anti-gender mobilisations, which reject ‘gender ideology’. This study employs sequential discourse analyses to discover: (1) the regional specificities in anti-gender discourse; and (2) whether the European Commission is discursively responsive to these differences. We find that the European Commission adapts its LGBTI discourse to actual and expected regional specificities, both in the issues discussed and in the frames employed. These conclusions are relevant because they show that European Union discourse on LGBTI rights is not homogeneous and may be strategically adapted to regional contexts, which has implications for the purported universal protection of LGBTI rights in the European Union. Additionally, these findings shed light on the important but neglected role that social mobilisations play in sensitising European Union actors to regional variation in political attitudes and values.

The variety of anti-gender alliances and democratic backsliding in Turkey: fault lines around opposition to “gender ideology” and their political implications

ABSTRACT This article examines the politics of knowledge production and the affective politics of rising anti-genderism in civil society in contemporary Turkey with a focus on two main points: (1) the variety of actors and their different strategies opposing “gender ideology,” and (2) the effects of state–movement dynamics on the political efficacy of those strategies. The findings demonstrate that anti-gender alliances between state and civil society actors display a discursive plurality in Turkey in terms of how they manage the fluidity and heterogeneity of the opposition to “gender ideology” that links a wide range of concerns about feminist ideas, movements, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI+) rights. Providing a typology of the different forms of opposition to “gender ideology,” the article concludes that in the recent era the right-wing populist regime in Turkey has redrawn its alliances in the gender policy field, accommodating illiberal actors’ anti-gender demands and anti-equality policy visions. This shift toward an aggressive performance of anti-genderism renders gender equality politics more contentious through a polarizing populist form of knowledge production and affective politics and even destabilizes gender equality policies that have already been accepted.

Shifting equality from the margins: the Common European Asylum System and the making of trans rights in the European Union

This article investigates the role played by the main European cooperation mechanism on asylum, the Common European Asylum System, in the making of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights in the European Union. Based on a one-year qualitative inquiry in Brussels and online, it shows that European Union asylum policies were a key arena for the consolidation, invention and renegotiation of European Union lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights, especially concerning trans recognition. This pioneering role, far from being fortuitous, was part of the conscious strategy of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex movement to use asylum as a ‘side door’ to the creation of a de facto recognition of ‘gender identity’ as a protected characteristic. Characterising this phenomenon as a ‘politics of interstices’ and analysing the importance of ignorance (and not just knowledge) as a tool for policy change, this article makes the case for an analysis of policymaking that acknowledges the importance of non-equality-specific arenas in the making of equality norms.

Intersexuality: What Primary and Specialized Healthcare Providers Should Know and Do to End Cosmetic and Harmful Medical Practices on Infants and Children Born with Intersex Variations in Tanzania

The Public Statement by the African Intersex Movement, 2017 extends demands to end discrimination against persons born with intersex variations in Africa through legislative and other means. Comestic, irreversible and harmful medical and clinical procedures infants and children born with intersex variations have been subject to include unconsented and medically unnecessary surgeries, mutilation and sterilization that cause irreversible physical and psychological harm. I demonstrate, Tanzania a signatory to The Human Rights Charter is mandated to follow the same route to ensure persons born with intersex variations live and enjoy the right to quality and equitable health and healthcare available without discrimination. To date, however, it is unclear what measures Tanzanian government has taken to prohibit medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures on infants and children born with intersex variations. Similarly, no enacted law banning harmful medical and clinical variations on infants and children born with intersex variations in this country; suggesting violation of intersex rights is ongoing. Data presented in this paper come from desk research I conducted on intersexuality in Tanzania and beyond. I conclude awareness of intersex conditions is increasing among researchers, persons born with intersex variations, parents/guardians, activists and the media. This increase would come with increasing horror, which may stimulate legal reform. I recommend primary and specialized care providers, and the Tanzania government in particular, ought not to wait for this dishonor to surface — rather should act now to end cosmetic and harmful surgeries and protect vulnerable infants and children born with intersex variations in this country.

CHALLENGING THE USE OF EXTERNAL SOURCES BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

AbstractThis article challenges the justification usually offered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for its broad use of external sources when engaging in evolutive interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). It analyses the Court's jurisprudence concerning international humanitarian law, the rights of the child, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and intersex (LGBTI) rights, in addition to drawing on interviews conducted with lawyers of the Court. It argues that the discursive strategy used by the Court to justify its ‘import’ of external sources fails to provide a complete normative justification and remains open to the charge of ‘cherry-picking’. The article recommends that the Court tailors its discursive strategy to the specific type of external sources used and suggests that more attention be paid to searching for internationalized consensus when determining the relevance of non-binding sources to evolutive interpretation of the ACHR.

African Vernacular Symbols of Black Intersex Children in Sinethemba Ngubane's Installations (2007-2016)

African Vernacular Symbols of Black Intersex Children in Sinethemba Ngubane's Installations (2007-2016)

Integrating Public Health Research and Teaching With Social Justice Activism: Lessons From 80 Years of Practice.

In this commentary, we reflect on the lessons we have learned from our successes and failures in aligning the roles of scholars and activists. Our hope is to provide insights that can guide public health students, faculty, practitioners, and activists seeking to chart their professional, political, and personal futures in today's polarized and catastrophe-burdened world. Several experiences motivate us to write this commentary now. In the last few years, inspired in part by the new activism against systemic racism sparked by the murder of George Floyd and others, growing climate emergencies, the COVID pandemic, anti-immigrant politics, increasing anti-Asian acts of violence, gun bloodshed, attacks on the right to reproductive and sexual health, resurgence of interest in worker organizing, and the ongoing quest for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTQI+) rights, we are impressed by the number of young people engaged in activism to defend and expand their rights and show that another world is possible.

In Search of a Queerer Law: Two People’s Tribunals in 1976

ABSTRACT In 1976, two people’s tribunals took place which considered issues relating to non-normative sexuality. ‘People’s tribunals’ are civil society initiatives that assert a popular jurisdiction which operates outside of both the state and international institutions. In Brussels, there was the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women, which treated ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ as a crime. On the other side of the world, in Sydney, there was the Tribunal on Homosexuals and Discrimination. These people’s tribunals are sometimes treated as forerunners to later developments relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in international law. In this paper, by contrast, I engage in a queer reading of the Brussels and Sydney Tribunals, whereby I consider how the legal framings and procedures adopted by the two tribunals diverged from the LGBTI rights framework that would later develop. In doing so, my aim is to shine a light on alternative, queerer legal possibilities, as well as to open up a conversation about using people’s tribunals as a mode of queer activism into the future.

Is Monkeypox Being Underdiagnosed in Countries with More Stigmatizing Attitudes towards Men Who Have Sex with Men? A Simple Ecological Analysis.

It is not known why the recent outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) has been more extensive in certain European countries than others. Previous studies have found that European countries with more stigmatizing attitudes to homosexuality have more undiagnosed HIV infections in men who have sex with men (MSM). We hypothesized that MPX in MSM may be underdiagnosed in European countries with more stigmatizing attitudes to homosexuality and less access to sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing for MSM. To test this hypothesis, we used Spearman’s correlation to assess if the national incidence of MPX in European countries was negatively associated with the intensity of screening for STIs and a composite indicator of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex (LGBTI) rights (the Rainbow Index). We found that the national cumulative incidence of MPX was positively correlated with the intensity of chlamydia/gonorrhoea screening (rho 0.68, p-value < 0.0001), syphilis screening (rho 0.62, p-value < 0.0001), and the Rainbow Index (rho 0.65, p-value < 0.0001). Our analysis thus suggests caution is required in interpreting the relatively lower incidence of MPX reported from several Eastern European countries. A key limitation of this analysis is that the incidence of MPX was calculated in the whole population and not limited to the MSM population.

Intersex Activism, Medical Power/Knowledge and the Scalar Limitations of the United Nations

Abstract This article considers the extent to which human rights mechanisms can ameliorate intersex rights at a sub-national, or medico-local, level. It engages with both intersex activism and the academy where the United Nations (UN) has become understood as a key mechanism through which to challenge day-to-day practices of healthcare practitioners and bring an end to nontherapeutic surgical and hormonal interventions on intersex infants and children. Using the UK as an example, this article examines how and why the UN’s engagement with intersex has had little effect on the medical regulation of intersex people. To do so, the article draws on legal geography to examine how scale prevents the UN from having a clear and lasting impact on domestic issues – particularly those in healthcare settings. The different ways in which intersex bodies are recognised and regulated at different scales, coupled with the UN’s inability to form dialogue with the institutions of the state, such as the healthcare profession, are problematic barriers to challenge practice at the medico-local scale.

Analysing homophobia, xenophobia and sexual nationalisms in Africa: Comparing quantitative attitudes data to reveal societal differences

To problematise Western discourses of a homophobic Africa, there is a need to analyse evidence of homophobia and its interplay with other attitudes, in ways that explore contextual differences. Hence, this article offers an original sociological analysis of quantitative data on homophobia in African states, examining how this inter-relates with xenophobia. Social attitudes data are drawn from the Afrobarometer research project as a unique and important source, and compared in five diverse contexts: Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia. Data are examined from Round 6 (2014–2015) and Round 7 (2016–2018). Findings are interpreted in light of specific national literatures on the relations between sexuality, gender and nationalism, as well as wider critical and postcolonial perspectives – especially conceptualisation of sexual nationalisms, and recent literatures on political homophobia. Whereas analyses of homonationalism in Western societies have explored alignments of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights affirmation with anti-immigrant attitudes, this study explores such relationships between homophobic and xenophobic attitudes in alternative patterns within specific African contexts. The analysis delivered not only challenges Western discourses of generalised African homophobia (especially discussing the counterexample of Mozambique) but also advances understanding of the complexity of how attitudes inter-relate in different postcolonial states.

Intersex Rights in the Icelandic Gender Autonomy Act

Intersex Rights in the Icelandic Gender Autonomy Act

2.Q. Workshop: Intersex human rights and wellbeing - Part I: From frameworks to ethics and lived experiences

Abstract Intersex newborns, children and adolescents frequently are subjected to not clinically necessary surgeries and other non-consensual treatments. According to the UN Factsheet Intersex, “Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies”. The intersex movement, international and regional human rights bodies, clinical practitioners, bioethicists and researchers have contributed reflections and recommendations related to intersex human rights, wellbeing, health and healthcare. International intersex activism demands, among other claims, the cessation of not clinically necessary surgeries and other non-consensual treatments performed on intersex newborns, children and adolescents, as well as access to clinical records, continued healthcare and psychosocial support. International and regional human rights bodies have supported these demands, calling on member states to prohibit not clinically necessary intersex-related surgeries. The discussion in the field of intersex studies includes the review of human rights and bioethical principles, clinical and research practices, as well as lived experiences, social circumstances and healthcare needs of intersex people. The workshop series “Intersex human rights and wellbeing” is structured in two parts “Part I: From frameworks to ethics and lived experiences” and “Part II: From ethics to healthcare approaches and experiences”. The first workshop in the series aims at exploring theoretical frameworks, ethical aspects in intersex research and lived experiences of intersex people. The presentations provide a review of the human rights framework (Presenter: Morgan Carpenter, Australia), the presentation of a European research project on intersex wellbeing and rights (Presenter: Dr. Surya Monro, United Kingdom), reflections on relevant ethical aspects in intersex studies (Presenters: Dr. Amets Suess Schwend and Yessica Mestre Martínez, Spain), as well as the presentation of research projects on the lived experiences of intersex youth in Aotearoa /New Zealand (Presenter: Dr. Denise Steers, Aoteearoa/New Zealand) and cultural aspects in intersex healthcare in Italy (Presenter: Marta Prandelli, Italy). Key messages The protection of intersex people’s human rights, health and wellbeing requires a critical review of current clinical and research practices. Human rights frameworks, bioethics, public health approaches and social sciences can provide relevant contributions to this discussion.

Introducing intersex wellbeing and rights and the INIA programme

Abstract Background Intersex people are exposed to human rights violations all over the world. Ongoing practices of sex-normalising surgery and other medical interventions on minors too young to give informed consent encroach on their bodily autonomy. Little is known about the public health implications of bodies with variations of sex characteristics (VSC). What key issues do VSCs raise? Methods In 2020 the INIA international consortium began work on a large research programme to address intersex people's wellbeing and human rights from a variety of new and innovative perspectives. The programme will train a cohort of 10 early-stage researchers working collaboratively to develop knowledge that will inform policy making and practice across a range of key sectors. Drawing on critical intersex studies, the research projects are relevant to stakeholders who are concerned with supporting the wellbeing and rights of intersex people through knowledge sharing and development. The project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 859869. Please see https://www.intersexnew.co.uk/. Results Indicative findings show that VSC could be an important area of public health work concerning diversity and equality. Early-stage results show a dearth of intersex visibility in key areas including social policy, education, and elder care. Intersex people and those with VSC face major health challenges and discrimination. There is a pressing need for appropriate healthcare. Conclusions The interdisciplinary INIA programme surfaces multiple discourses about intersex people and those with variations of sex characteristics. Projects of particular interest to public health practitioners and policy makers include those concerning multi-disciplinary healthcare, ethics, social policy, education, aging, and service user participation.

“This Is a Union of Values”: The Rise of the LGBTI Rights Norm as Part of the EU’s Identity Construction

Abstract Since the early 1990s, the EU has increasingly institutionalized lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights and more recently started to use them as a symbol for its modern and progressive identity. This article investigates this development, focusing on EU actors and institutions. Combining a genealogical analysis with the analysis of current discursive struggles around LGBTI rights within EU institutions, it shows that the rise of LGBTI rights is closely intertwined with the search for a common European identity, shared values, and attempts to strengthen solidarity in times when right-wing, nationalist, and Eurosceptic movements are increasingly challenging the EU’s legitimacy.

RESILIENCE TECHNIQUES OF INTERNATIONAL COURTS IN TIMES OF RESISTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL LAW

AbstractInternational courts are increasingly called upon to adjudicate socially divisive disputes. They are therefore exposed to a heightened risk of backlash that questions their authority and impedes the implementation of their judgments. This article puts forward an analytical framework for mapping the resilience techniques used by international courts to counter this growing resistance. Case studies involve the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has been cautious in its stance regarding democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland, and the Caribbean Court of Justice, which has engaged in legal diplomacy while adjudicating both on the land rights of indigenous groups and on Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) rights. It is argued that, in order to effectively avoid and mitigate backlash, international courts should deploy resilience techniques that go beyond merely exercising their judicial function. The successful deployment of resilience techniques can allow international courts to become significant actors in global governance during a time of crisis for the international liberal order.