Gavan Coleman (centre), with Daniela Truffer (right) and Markus Bauer (left), after testifying to IGM in Ireland to the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), Geneva 26.07.2017
At the 61st Session of the UN Committee against Torture, before Ireland was questioned over Intersex Genital Mutilations, NGOs had the possibility to brief CAT in closed briefings.
Read below the 1.25-minutes oral statement by Irish intersex advocate and IGM survivor Gavan Coleman:
>>> Download as PDF (75kb)
StopIGM.org
NGO Oral Statement CAT61 Ireland, 26.07.2017
Gavan ColemanI’m an Irish intersex person. As a child I had surgery on my groin and scrotum, where I still have scars.
At 18 I was pressured to consent to a mastectomy, without having been fully informed.
In comparison to many of my peers, I still consider myself lucky, I can still enjoy sex and don’t have recurring pain.
Intersex children are subjected to involuntary, unnecessary genital surgeries and other procedures that would be considered inhumane on other children.
In Ireland, Intersex Genital Mutilations continue to be advocated and paid for by the public Health Service Executive (HSE). [1]
Paediatricians publicly admit to performing involuntary surgeries, or sending children to England. [2]
This Committee [3] has repeatedly considered such acts as ill-treatment in health-care settings, as did the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture [4] and the Special Rapporteur on Torture. [5]
Ireland has already been recommended by CRC [6] to prevent non-consensual unnecessary treatments on intersex children, and to adopt legal provisions in order to provide redress.
The State party fails to do so.
We therefore respectfully ask the Committee to raise this issue and to sternly remind Ireland of its obligations under the Convention articles 2, 6, 10, and 14, and General Comments No. 2 and 3.
Thank you.
[1] 2017 CAT Ireland NGO Report, p. 8-10, http://intersex.shadowreport.org/public/2017-CAT-Ireland-NGO-Zwischengeschlecht-Intersex-IGM.pdf
[2] Irish Examiner, “What happens when a child is born intersex in Ireland?”, 04.11.2016, Cover story, p. 7-9
[3] CAT/C/DEU/CO/5, para 20; CAT/C/CHE/CO/7, para 20, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, paras 44-45; CAT/C/DNK/CO/6-7, paras 42-43; CAT/C/CHN-HKG/CO/4-5, paras 28-29; CAT/C/FRA/CO/7, paras 32-33
[4] End violence and harmful medical practices on intersex children and adults, UN and regional experts urge, 24.10.2016, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20739&LangID=E
[5] Ibid.; A/HRC/22/53, 01.02.2013, paras 77, 76
[6] CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, paras 39-40
>>> CAT61 Timeline Ireland 2017
NGO Report to the 2nd Report of Ireland
on the Convention against Torture (CAT)
Compiled by:
Gavan Coleman
StopIGM.org / Zwischengeschlecht.org
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!
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
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