CEDAW 71st Session @ Palais des Nations, Geneva 23.10.2018, 09:54h: Getting ready …
Tuesday 23 October 2018 in Geneva, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) examined the human rights record of Nepal as a contracting State party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This public examination is also archived on webtv.un.org:
• VIDEO Session 1 with Committee questions:
10-13h CET [Nepal: 13:45–16:45h]
• VIDEO Session 2 with Nepal’s (non-)answers and follow-up questions: 15-17h CET [Nepal: 18:45–20:45h]
>>> CEDAW Nepal Timeline 2018
In addition, on Monday 22 October, 15:00–16:30h CEST [Nepal: 18:45–19:15h] there was a public hearing with Nepali NGOs, also archived on webtv.un.org (intersex @ 20:05).
>>> Joint Intersex NGO Statement (PDF)
>>> Extended Private Meeting Joint Intersex NGO Statement (PDF)
>>> UN Press Releases Highlight Intersex Infanticide and IGM in Nepal
Nepali intersex advocates Esan Regmi and Parsu Ram Rai together with StopIGM.org submitted a Joint Thematic Intersex NGO Report (PDF) to the Committee, containing compelling evidence of the serious human rights violations of intersex children in Nepal, including infanticide, child abandonment, intersex genital mutilation and other harmful practices.
StopIGM.org was following live in Geneva, hoping for tough questions for the Nepali delegation, and yet another stern reprimand for Nepal for harmful practices on intersex children at the end of the 71st CEDAW session:
Session 1, Tue 23.10.2018, 10-13h CET
12:36h: (Video @ 02:36:24)YAY!! Committee expert and Country co-rapporteur Madame Gladys Acosta Vargas (Peru) raises harmful practices on intersex children including IGM, asking about statistics and referring to the previous reprimand to Nepal by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)! Unofficial Translation from Original Spanish:
«Thank you very much chairperson, I would also like to ask an additional question regarding intersex people. The human rights violations to which they are subjected have already been brought to the attention of the state party by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2016, and we would like to know if corrective measures have been taken to ensure that these violations of the rights of intersex people, whatever their age, do not happen again.
I would like to know if there are statistics on these surgeries, it would be appropriate to investigate each of these cases, and above all to take legislative measures to prohibit any type of sexual mutilation without the consent of the person, as well as chemical treatments with hormonal impact.
Physicians and all health professionals should be educated and trained to avoid unnecessary surgical or other interventions that violate the rights of intersex children.»
Session 2, Tue 23.10.2018, 15-17h CET
Not entireley surprising, the Nepali Delegation failed to provide any answers on intersex – same as with the written Committee questions in the previous List of Issues (CEDAW/C/NPL/Q/6, para 8 (d)) …
So now we’re hoping for strong Concluding Observations!
UPDATE!! Nepal reprimanded for harmful practices – again!
Intersex Genital Mutilations in Nepal: 2018 CEDAW
Human Rights Violations Of Children With Variations Of Reprod. Anatomy
Infanticide + IGM in Nepal • Complicity of the State • Harmful Practice
>>> Download as PDF (328 kb)
>>> 2018 CEDAW Joint Intersex Statement Nepal (PDF)
>>> Timeline Nepal CEDAW 2018
See also:
• ‘Only the Fear of the Judge Will Make IGM Perpetrators Change’
• “Harmful Medical Practice”: UN, COE, ACHPR, IACHR condem IGM
• 38 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)