Photo: Nonviolent Intersex Protest @ UNHRC UPR #14, Geneva 20.10.2012
During its 80th Session in Geneva, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) examined the human rights record of Belgium and Italy, grilling both State parties specifically on intersex and IGM.
Intersex advocates are delighted that the Committee today sternly reprimanded both States for Intersex Genital Mutilations (IGM) under CRC art. 24(3) “harmful practices” (same as FGM), and in particular explicitly urged Belgium to “[p]rohibit the performance of unnecessary medical or surgical treatment on intersex children” and to “ensure […] access […] to effective remedies, including by lifting the statute of limitations”, referring to the CRC-CEDAW Joint General Comment No. 18/31 “on harmful practices”, and to target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (“eliminate all harmful practices”).
This latest reprimands for IGM practices by a UN treaty body mark
• the first reprimand for IGM for Belgium,
• already the 2nd reprimand for IGM for Italy,
• now 40 UN reprimands condemning IGM as a serious violation of non-derogable human rights.
Intersex NGO StopIGM.org together with intersex advocates Claudia Balsamo (Italy) and Thierry Bosman (Belgium), with the support of Intersexioni, Intersex Esiste and Intersex Belgium, and with additional help from Michela Balocchi, Daniela Crocetti and Londé Ngosso, had submitted substantial evidence of the ongoing IGM practices in both countries.
Please find below the full binding intersex recommendations for both Belgium and Italy, as well as links to the evidence submitted to the Committee and to the shocking denials and excuses of both States when questioned by the Committee in Geneva:
Belgium
Intersex Genital Mutilation in Belgium: 2018 CRC Report
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Reprod. Anatomy
IGM in Belgium • Complicity of the State • Harmful Practice
>>> Download as PDF (376 kb)
IGM in Belgium: 2018 Follow-Up Report (for Session)
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Reprod. Anatomy
Gov sidelines Intersex NGOs • International IGM Networks in Belgium
>>> Download as PDF (210 kb)
>>> CRC80 Belgium: Full Session Report, Transcripts, Videos
>>> Belgique > Communiqué de l’ONU souligne l’absence de protection législative
>>> Full CRC Timeline Belgium 2018-2019
Belgium: Full Binding CRC80 Intersex Recommendations
>>> Download Full Concl Obs: CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6 –> paras 25(b)+26(e)
Harmful practices
25. The Committee notes with concern that:
[…]
(b) Intersex children are subjected to medically unnecessary surgeries and other procedures.
26. With reference to joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014) and taking into account target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Committee urges the State party to:
[…]
(e) Prohibit the performance of unnecessary medical or surgical treatment on intersex children where those procedures can be safely deferred until children are able to provide their informed consent; ensure that intersex children and their families have access to adequate counselling and support and to effective remedies, including by lifting the statute of limitations.
Italy
Intersex Genital Mutilations in Italy: 2018 CRC Report
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Reprod. Anatomy
IGM in Italy • Complicity of the State • Harmful Practice
>>> Download as PDF (391 kb)
IGM in Italy: 2018 Follow-Up Report (for Session)
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Reprod. Anatomy
IGM Statistics • International IGM Networks in Italy • Testimonies
>>> Download as PDF (450 kb)
>>> CRC80 Italy: Full Session Report, Transcripts, Videos
>>> Italy > Intersex Genital Mutilation: Gov Denial makes UN Press Release
>>> Full CRC Timeline Italy 2018-2019
Italy: Full Binding CRC80 Intersex Recommendations
>>> Download Full Concl Obs: CRC/C/ITA/CO/5-6 –> para 23
Harmful practices
23. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Develop and implement a child rights-based health-care protocol for intersex children, setting the procedures and steps to be followed by health teams, ensuring that no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood, guarantee bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination to children concerned, and provide families with intersex children with adequate counselling and support;
(b) Educate and train medical and psychological professionals on the range of sexual, and related biological and physical, diversity and on the consequences of unnecessary surgical and other medical interventions for intersex children.
See also:
• ‘Only the Fear of the Judge Will Make IGM Perpetrators Change’
• “Harmful Medical Practice”: UN, COE, ACHPR, IACHR condem IGM
• 40 UN Reprimands for IGM – and counting …
• UN Committee for the Rights of the Child (CRC): IGM = Harmful Practice + Violence
• UN Committee against Torture (CAT) 2015: IGM = Inhuman Treatment or Torture
• UN Women’s Rights Committee (CEDAW): IGM = Harmful Practice
• UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): Violation of Integrity
• UN Human Rights Committee (HRCttee) condemns IGM Practices
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 is IGM?
>>> Download PDF (3.65 MB) >>> Table of Contents
IGM as a Harmful Practice: 2015 UN-CRC Briefing
• IGM: A Survivor’s Perspective • Intersex Movement History
• What are Variations of Sex Anatomy? • What are IGM Practices?
• IGM and Human Rights • Conclusion: IGM is a Harmful Practice
>>> Download PDF (3.14 MB) >>> Table of Contents
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)