“Circular No. 7”: A step back for intersex human rights in Chile

Ministry of Health Chile: “Circular No. 7 of 23. Aug 2016 complementing Circular No. 18″

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook

After Chile was reprimanded for Intersex Genital Mutilations by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in October 2015, in December the Chilean Ministry of Health issued a “Circular No. 18” aimed at combatting IGM practices.

Sadly, despite that in spring 2016 Chile was additionally reprimanded also by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for IGM, on 23.08.2016 the Chilean Ministry of Health issued their new “Circular No. 7” wich turned out to be a major step back undoing most of the (anyway small) advances of the earlier “Circular No. 18”.

Kudos to Laura Inter and Hana Aoi of “Brújula Intersexual” who recently published an analysis of this deplorable step back by Chile:
>>> English summary and links to documents incl. translated Circulars
>>> Extensive full article in english (PDF) 

May this dangerous precedent serve as a timely reminder of why “self regulation” by doctors and health ministries (as e.g. advocated by Amnesty London) won’t stop IGM, and neither will toothless laws without actual consequences for both perpetrators and accessories like in Malta.

Adequately sanctioning or criminalizing IGM is key!

See also:
23 UN Reprimands for IGM – and counting …
“Harmful Medical Practice”: UN, COE, ACHPR, IACHR condemn IGM
UN Committee for the Rights of the Child (CRC) 2015: IGM = Harmful Practice
UN Committee against Torture (CAT) 2015: IGM = Inhuman Treatment or Torture
UN Human Rights Committee (HRCttee) to examine IGM Practices
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) condemns IGM
56th Session of Committee against Torture reprimands 4 Governments for IGM
CAT 2011: Germany must investigate IGM practices and compensate survivors!

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook

Intersex Genital Mutilations • 17 Most Common Forms
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM – Historical Overview  What is Intersex?  How Common are IGMs?
>>> Download PDF (3.65 MB)     >>> Table of Contents

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook

Eliminating IGM practices by holding the perpetrators accountable via well-established applicable human rights frameworks, including Inhuman Treatment and Harmful Practices – Presentation @ UN expert meeting on Intersex Human Rights

>>> Download PDF (831kb)

Leave a comment