UN Press Release Highlights Intersex Genital Mutilations in Switzerland

The entire CEDAW meeting with NGOs was also transmitted live and is now archived at webtv.un.org 

>>> The UN press release on the informal meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of the Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) with NGOs from Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras and Armenia held last Monday 31.10.2016 highlights the oral statement by StopIGM.org’s Daniela Truffer on Intersex Genital Mutilations in Switzerland, as well as the ensuing question by Committee expert Lilian Hofmeister and Daniela’s reply:

Statements by Non-Governmental Organizations

Switzerland

StopIGM.org said that all forms of intersex genital mutilations were still regularly perpetrated with impunity in public universities and cantonal children’s clinics, and paid for by the Swiss Disability Insurance.  Adequate psychological support was not available, and there was no law to protect intersex children from those practices.  The Government refused to acknowledge that this was an ongoing human rights issue, claiming that it had happened only in the past.

Questions by Committee Members

On Switzerland, Experts asked […] How were intersex babies treated by the medical staff and what was the role of the parents? 

Responses by Non-governmental Organizations

[…] in Switzerland […] An intersex child was still regarded as being disordered and parents were under pressure to undertake cosmetic surgery, with doctors saying that the child would otherwise suffer psychologically.  Parents were pressured to agree to the surgery which violated the rights of the child.

>>> REPORT: Switzerland questioned over IGM practices by CEDAW – Gov denies  

Intersex Genital Mutilations in Switzerland: 2016 CEDAW
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM in Switzerland • Complicity of the State • Harmful Practice
>>> Download as PDF (288 kb)

See also:
• 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) to examine IGM Practices
• CAT 2011: Germany must investigate IGM practices and compensate survivors!

IGM as a Harmful Practice: 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 as a Harmful Practice
>>> Download PDF (3.14 MB)     >>> Table of Contents