StopIGM.org

>>> Français

Photo: Daniela Truffer (StopIGM.org) delivering the Statement during the NGO Meeting with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at Palais des Nations, Geneva 04.07.216

StopIGM.org: NGO Oral Statement CEDAW France, 04.07.2016 | PDF 

Daniela Truffer:  « I’m co-founder of StopIGM.org, an intersex person and survivor of involuntary sterilising procedures and genital surgery, and speaking on behalf of my french peers.

Intersex Genital Mutilations in France have been considered by both CRC and CAT as “ill-treatment” and “harmful practice”, referring to the CEDAW/CRC Joint general recommendation.

As substantiated in our thematic NGO report [1], in France all forms of IGM practices are still advocated by public medical bodies, namely the High Authority of Health, which prescribes partial clitoris amputation on intersex children “during the first months of life”. IGM practices are paid for by the public health insurance, and are perpetrated in public university and regional children’s clinics, et cetera, with impunity.

To this day, in France there is no law to protect intersex children from these daily mutilations. The French Government refuses to acknowledge that this is a human rights issue, but frames IGM as “complex medical questions” best left to the “medical expertise” of the perpetrators, who in turn blanketly dismiss human rights criticism as, I quote, “unfair” and “counterproductive”.

To this day, instead of addressing IGM practices, the French Government insists on focusing on civil status and gender identity issues, which for intersex children are marginal.

I therefore would like to urge the Committee to ask the French delegation tough questions on IGM, and to sternly remind them of France’s obligations, namely

• to “explicitly prohibit by law” IGM practices,

• to ensure “that the perpetrators and [accessories] are held accountable”,

• to guarantee that “children subjected to harmful practices” have “equal access to legal remedies and appropriate reparations”,

• “including by addressing legal and practical barriers to initiating legal proceedings, such as the limitation period”.

Thank you. »

[1]  http://intersex.shadowreport.org/public/2016-CEDAW-France-NGO-Zwischengeschlecht-Intersex-IGM.pdf

See also:
• UN Committee for the Rights of the Child (CRC) 2015: IGM = Harmful Practic
• 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

>>> Download PDF (831kb)

>>> Download PDF (0.8 MB)  (Photo: Intersex Protests vs. ‘1st D$Dnet Training School’)

This week it’s the turn of France to be questioned over Intersex Genital Mutilations at the 64th Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on
Friday 7 July 2016, 10-13h CET + 15-17h  CET    >>> watch live!

IGM practices in France have already been condemned by UN-CRC as a ‘harmful practice’ (like FGM) and ‘violence against children’, and by UN-CAT as ‘inhuman treatment’ punishable as Torture.

And even better: This isn’t by far the last IGM perpetrators and complicit states will get from UN treaty bodies later this year and beyond:

NGO Report to the 7th and 8th Periodic Report of France on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

>>>  Download (PDF 2.69 MB)

Compiled by:
StopIGM.org / Zwischengeschlecht.org
Nadine Coquet • Vincent Guillot

This is the first report on IGM as a harmful practice in violation of CEDAW Article 5 in conjunction with General recommendation No. 31, both requiring legislation to end the practice and to ensure access to redress and justice for IGM survivors.
It contains an updated bibliography of human rights bodies verdicts and NGO reports, and 2 case stories of IGM survivors from France. 

Timetable CEDAW Review of France July 2016:
• NGO Briefing France (public): Mon 4 July 2016 3 – 4:30 p.m.
• NGO Lunch Time Briefing (closed): Thu 7 July 
• Review of France: Fri 8 July 2016, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. + 3-5 p.m.
   – to be broadcasted live via treatybodywebcast.org!
• The Concluding Observations for France, hopefully with a severe reprimand for IGM practices, are due at the end the 64th Session of CEDAW (22 July 2016).

NGO Report to the 7th and 8th Periodic Report of Germany on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

>>>  Download (PDF 277 kb)

  
Compiled by:
StopIGM.org / Zwischengeschlecht.org

In 2009, CEDAW was the first UN treaty body to include intersex in Concluding Observations (though not IGM). Germany now mentioned intersex in their follow-up report, to which this NGO report for the List of Issues (LoI) to be formulated during the Committee’s Pre-Sessional Working Group (25 Jul 2016 – 29 Jul 2016) relates.
Review of Germany: Upcoming 66th CEDAW Session (13 Feb 2017 – 03 Mar 2017)
The Concluding Observations for Germany hopefully with a severe reprimand for IGM practices are due at the end the 66th Session (03 March 2017).

[NGO Report to the List of Issues Prior to Reporting for 6th Periodic Report of the Unites States of America on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)]

>>> Download as PDF (282 kb)

Compiled by:
interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth

The 59th Session of the Committee against Torture (CAT) taking place 07 Nov 2016 – 07 Dec 2016 will compile a List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LoIPR) for the forthcoming 6th State Report of the USA due on 28 Nov 2018. Above NGO report documents the ongoing practice and calls for tough questions for the U.S. on IGM.
InterAct already reported on intersex to the 53rd CAT Session (2014), however the Concluding Observations didn’t mention intersex then.

[NGO Report to the List of Issues Prior to Reporting for 6th Periodic Report of Australia on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)]

>>> Download as PDF (265 kb)

Compiled by:
OII Australia

The 59th Session of the Committee against Torture (CAT) taking place 07 Nov 2016 – 07 Dec 2016 will compile a List of Issues Prior to Reporting (LoIPR) for the forthcoming 6th State Report of Australia due on 28 Nov 2018. Above NGO report documents the ongoing practice and calls for tough questions for Australia on IGM.
OII Australia already reported on intersex to the 53rd CAT Session (2014), however the Concluding Observations didn’t mention intersex then.

See also:
• UN Committee for the Rights of the Child (CRC) 2015: IGM = Harmful Practic
• 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

>>> Download PDF (831kb)

L.t.r.: Holly Greenberry (IntersexUK), Daniela Truffer (StopIGM.org), Juan Méndez (UN Special Rapporteur on Torture), Mauro Cabral (Justicia Intersex), Markus Bauer (StopIGM.org), Geneva 12.03.2014 (Photo: André du Plessis)

Press Release by StopIGM.org 10.06.2016

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

>>> Download PDF (831kb)

>>> Great article on Gay Star News by Tris Reis-Smith about the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reprimanding the UK and Nepal. Even better, they’re staying on the ball: ‘GSN has asked the UK’s Department of Health and Nepal’s Ministry of Health to comment and is awaiting a response.’  THANKS!!!

>>> Genital mutilation on the NHS: UN reprimand UK + Nepal
>>> That’s why the UK is reprimanded for Intersex Genital Mutilations by UN-CRC

Intersex Genital Mutilations in the UK: 2016 UN-CRC Report 
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM – Most Common Forms • What is Intersex? • A Harmful Practice
>>>  Download (PDF 3.60 MB) 

Photo: Dr Jay Hayes-Light (UKIA) addressing the Scottish Equality Network

>>> Genital mutilation on the NHS: UN reprimand UK + Nepal

‘The UK Intersex Association (UKIA) adds their voice and support from the UK and our Associated organisations in 25 other countries. UKIA is a research and education organisation and can confirm from our experience that IGM is both physically and mentally harmful, with the potential to affect an individual’s sense of self, personal confidence and ability to integrate fully into society.

We and many others who have in-depth knowledge and experience of intersex conditions are in agreement that a child born intersex is first and foremost a child, with potential to develop along the same pathway as any other child and unwarranted, non-medically necessary surgery with associated post-surgical complications and follow-up examinations can and often does, affect the ability of  many such children to fully develop into a self-confident adult.

CURRENTLY, non medically neccessary IGM is legally sanctioned in several countries depite evidence that it can be defined as abuse. Such practices must be stopped.

Dr. Jay Hayes-Light
Director – UK Intersex Association’

>>> Genital mutilation on the NHS: UN reprimand UK + Nepal
>>> That’s why the UK is reprimanded for Intersex Genital Mutilations by UN-CRC

Intersex Genital Mutilations in the UK: 2016 UN-CRC Report 
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM – Most Common Forms • What is Intersex? • A Harmful Practice
>>>  Download (PDF 3.60 MB) 

Photo: Intersex Protest + Open Letter vs. GOSH, UCHL, RCSE + ‘ISHID’ Genital Mutilators, London 18.09.2011

Press Release by StopIGM.org 09.06.2016

StopIGM.org, IntersexUK, The UK Intersex Association, UK intersex advocate Leslie Jaye and Nepali intersex advocates Esan Regmi and Parsu Ram Rai warmly welcome today’s binding ‘Concluding Observations’ by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reprimanding the UK + Nepal over Intersex Genital Mutilations (IGM):
UK: CRC/C/GBR/CO/5, DOCX, on Intersex: p. 10–11, paras. 45–46
Nepal: CRC/C/NPL/CO/3-5, DOCX, on Intersex: p. 10–11, par. 41–42

IGM = ‘Harmful practice’ + ‘Violence against children‘

While both the UK and Nepal flatly denied the ongoing mutilations of intersex children (and tried to change the subject to (trans-)gender and civil status issues instead), the Committee didn’t let the wool to be pulled over their eyes. But instead twice more denounced IGM as a serious crime in blatant violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and constituting a ‘harmful practice’ (just like FGM) and ‘violence against children’, referring to art. 24 para. 3 CRC in conjunction with the CRC/CEDAW Joint general comment No. 18/31 ‘on harmful practices’, which specifically oblige states ‘to explicitly prohibit by law and adequately sanction or criminalize harmful practices’.

StopIGM.org particularly appreciates the Committee obliging the UK to ‘Ensure that no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood’ and to ‘Provide redress to the victims of such treatment’, as well as to ‘guarantee bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination‘  to intersex children, and to ‘provide families with intersex children with adequate counselling and support’.

And we particularly appreciate that the Committee also made the same binding recommendations on IGM to Nepal plus, addressing ‘The lack of awareness of issues related to intersex children in Nepal and the high levels of stigma and discrimination faced by intersex children’, in addition obliged Nepal to ‘Conduct awareness-raising campaigns to combat stigma and discrimination against intersex children’ and to ‘Ensure that intersex children have access to identity documents that correspond with the sex/gender identity of their choosing’.

These latest binding recommendations on intersex mark the 13th and 14th time that a UN treaty body condemns IGM practices and reprimands a State party for complicity in these serious human rights violations. UN-CRC has consistently recognised IGM as a ‘harmful practice’ and ‘violence against children’, and already reprimanded Ireland, France, Chile and Switzerland.

‘Until such time as there is a change in the law, we remain happy to undertake clitoral reduction surgery’ – Dr I. Mushtaq (NHS, GOSH, UCL)

For the 72nd CRC session, intersex NGOs StopIGM.org, IntersexUK, the UK Intersex Association, UK intersex advocate Leslie Jaye and Nepali intersex advocates Esan Regmi and Parsu Ram Rai documented corroborating evidence for ongoing human rights violations of intersex children in both countries, including personal testimonies of IGM survivors.

We demand the prohibition of forced genital surgeries on children and adolescents with variations of sex anatomy and “Human rights for hermaphrodites too!”

Persons concerned shall later decide themselves, if they want surgeries or not, and if yes, which.

Kind regards

Daniela “Nella” Truffer    +41 76 398 06 50
Markus Bauer    +41 78 829 12 60
Founding members international intersex NGO StopIGM.org / Zwischengeschlecht.org

Contact IntersexUK: info_at_intersexuk.org
Contact UK Intersex Association: +44 78 3119 6143

presse_at_zwischengeschlecht.info
http://StopIGM.org

>>> That’s why the UK is reprimanded for Intersex Genital Mutilations by UN-CRC

Intersex Genital Mutilations in the UK: 2016 UN-CRC Report 
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM – Most Common Forms • What is Intersex? • A Harmful Practice
>>>  Download (PDF 3.60 MB) 

Intersex Genital Mutilations, Stigma and Bullying in Nepal
1.  Background: 1st Intersex Workshop, Intersex Stories Book, 2016 CRC NGO Report
2.  Intersex Genital Mutilations in Nepali Paediatric Hospitals
3.  Denial of Needed Health Care      4.  Stigma, Bullying and Isolation

VIDEO Action vs. ‘I-D$D’ Genital Mutilators!
4th I-D$D Symposium, Glasgow 2013
Thanks to Richard Duncker (MenDoComplain)

>>> on Vimeo

VIDEO Action vs. ‘I$HID’ Live Mutilators!
IV ISHID World Congress, London 2011
Thanks to Richard Duncker (MenDoComplain) 

>>> on Youtube

14 Reprimands: The UN Condemn Intersex Genital Mutilations

Typical forms of IGM practices [ WARNING!!!] include involuntary ‘masculinising’ and ‘feminising’, ‘corrective’ genital surgery, castration and other sterilising procedures, imposition of  hormones, forced genital exams, vaginal dilations, medical display, withholding crucial information from patients an parents, human experimentation, and denial of needed health care.

IGM Practices cause known lifelong severe physical and psychological pain and suffering, including loss or impairment of  sexual sensation, painful scarring, painful intercourse, incontinence, urethral strictures, impairment or loss of  reproductive capabilities, lifelong dependency of artificial hormones, significantly elevated rates of self-harming behaviour and suicidal tendencies, lifelong mental suffering and trauma, increased sexual anxieties, less sexual activity.

Since 1950, IGM has been practised systematically and on an industrial scale allover the ‘developed world’, with all typical IGM forms still practised today. Parents and children are misinformed, kept in the dark, sworn to secrecy, kept isolated and denied appropriate support.

For more than 20 years, survivors have criticised IGM practices as harmful and traumatising, as a fundamental human rights violation, as a form of genital mutilation and child sexual abuse, as torture or ill-treatment, and called for legislation to end it and to ensure remedies, including access to justice and adequate compensation

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has repeatedly considered involuntary, non-urgent intersex treatments as ‘violence’ and a ‘harmful practice’, and thus comparable to Female Genital Mutilation, and – in addition to the UK and Nepal today – since 2015 has reprimanded Switzerland, Chile, Ireland and France for failing to protect intersex children’s right to bodily integrity and to ensure equal access to remedies and justice for victims.

The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) likewise recognises IGM practices as constituting at least ‘inhuman treatment’ in violation of the Convention against Torture, and since 2011 has reprimanded Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong and France.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) also considers IGM as ‘inhuman treatment’ and since 2015 has reprimanded Germany and Chile.

In all above 14 verdicts, the Committees issued binding recommendations to take legislative action to end the practice and to ensure access to redress and justice for IGM survivors.

In addition, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRCttee) as the governing body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) is currently investigating IGM and has called on Switzerland to disclose statistics.

Other international human rights bodies to condemn IGM practices so far include WHO, UNICEF, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

To this day, Malta and Colombia are the only countries to at least formally outlaw or partly ban involuntary surgeries on children with ‘atypical genitalia’, although without any tangible consequences for perpetrators and without ensuring access to redress and justice for survivors of infant IGM practices by prolonging the statutes of limitations long enough to allow often traumatised survivors to sue as adults.

See also:
• 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
• Historic 56th Session of Committee against Torture reprimands 4 Governments over 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 is IGM?
>>> 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

>>> Download PDF (831kb)

>>> 09.06.2016: UN-CRC reprimanded UK + Nepal for IGM!

Glasgow, 09.06.2013: Intersex Protest #7 vs. ‘4th I-DSD’ | Open Letter (PDF)
>>> Video filmed during the protests, courtesy of Richard Duncker, featuring Claudia Kasper, Daniela “Nella” Truffer and Markus Bauer (StopIGM.org). Many thanks!
UPDATE: Part of this video was featured on ABC Nightline (via youtube).

FOR THE MUTILATORS, international ‘D$D’ or rather IGM conferences are usually a bit like a paid holiday. They get to travel, sightseeing, shopping, as well as meeting fellow mutilators. Not to mention the everlasting academic pissing contests, which IGM clinics and clinicians snipped, and snapped, and published the most and the bestest. All paid for. No wonder so many mutilators are always looking forward to next year’s IGM destinations!

Unless they find themselves confronted by fierce nonviolent protesters picketing their prestigious meetings – all day long, all conference long – whenever they come or leave or go for a smoke, they have to face the facts that their crimes are being noticed. That survivors are NOT happy. That these facts are becoming better reported in the media, better known in the public, and better recognised by human rights bodies. How surprisingly many of their peers appreciate and support the concerns at the heart of the protests.

While there’s still only a small group of survivors and supporters undertaking the hardships and exposure associated with nonviolent protests, and we obviously can’t cover all IGM conferences and meetings, still the mutilators can never be too sure when and where to expect confrontation next – as well as being challenged inside their playgrounds, too!

It’s important putting up the pressure on the perpetrators. On all levels. Left to their own devices, the mutilators will never stop …

>>>  ‘4th I-D$D’ Protests in Glasgow: PHOTO REPORT

Intersex Genital Mutilations in the UK: 2016 UN-CRC Report 
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM – Most Common Forms • What is Intersex? • A Harmful Practice
>>>  Download (PDF 3.60 MB) 

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

>>> Open Letter of Concern to ‘4th I-DSD Symposium 2013’ (PDF)
>>> ‘I-DSD’ Glasgow: ‘Cruel and inhuman’ surgeries – Press Release 07.06.2013

‘Until there is a change in the law, we’ll continue cutting’  – Dr I. Mushtaq (GOSH, UCL)
Photo: Nonviolent intersex protest @ Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, 18.09.2011

>>> Press Release 09.06.2016: “IGM on the NHS” – UNCRC reprimands UK + Nepal
>>> Press Relase 25.05.2016: “UN to question UK for Intersex Genital Mutilations”

This week it’s the turn of the UK to be questioned over Intersex Genital Mutilations at the 72nd Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on Mon 23 May 15–18h CET [UK: 2-5pm] + Tue 24 May 10–13h CET [UK: 9am-noon].      >>>  watch live!
UN-CRC recognises IGM as a ‘harmful practice’ (like FGM) and as ‘violence against children’, has recently reprimanded Ireland, France, Chile and Switzerland, and only last week questioned Nepal over IGM practices.

>>> StopIGM.org is reporting live from the 72nd session in Geneva, expecting tough questions also for the UK, and both the UK and Nepal to be reprimanded by June 3rd9th.

While the Government and the NHS are quick to deny the ongoing practice, a collaborative Intersex NGO report to the Committee documents damning evidence on the most common forms of IGM and moving testimonies by IGM survivors in the UK:

Read moreThat’s why the UK will be reprimanded for Intersex Genital Mutilations by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

UPDATE! 09.06.2016: UN-CRC reprimanded Nepal for IGM and Bullying! 

Photo: Fundraiser for Needed Surgery for Intersex Adolescents Arjun (15) + Amar (17)

This week, at the 72nd Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Nepal is first up for review of Intersex Human Rights including the “growing practice of Intersex Genital Mutilations” on Thur 19 May 15:00-18:00h CET [Nepal: 18:45-21:45h] + Fri 20 May 10:00-13:00h CET [Nepal: 12:45-16:45h] – archived on treatybodywebcast.org!
Next week: The UK …

 
     TABLE OF CONTENTS “Intersex Genital Mutilations, Stigma and Bullying in Nepal”
     1.  Background: 1st Intersex Workshop, Intersex Stories Book, 2016 CRC NGO Report
     2.  Intersex Genital Mutilations in Nepali Paediatric Hospitals
          a) IGM in Publications by Doctors and Hospitals
          b) IGM in Witnesses Accounts
     3.  Denial of Needed Health Care
     4.  Stigma, Bullying and Isolation
     •  Nepal questioned over IGM by UN Child Rights Committee – Gov denies 
 

3.  Denial of Needed Health Care     

“Denial of needed health care” constitutes one of the 17 most common forms of IGM practices described in the 2014 CRC Swiss Thematic Intersex NGO Report (PDF, p. 75), and is substantiated in two of the personal stories (collected on occasion of the 1st Intersex National Workshop and published as e-book) which both illustrate how it compounds stigma and exclusion (see  below 4.).

In Nepal this issue is compounded by general lack of health insurance resulting in additional difficulties for intersex children to gain access to needed health care. 
 

Stories of Intersex People from Nepal
Compiled by: Esan Regmi
Translated by: Parsu Ram Rai
>>>  Download (PDF 932 kb)

 
AMAR CHAUDHARY (p. 17-18)

Born 1996 with ambiguous genitals, raised as a boy.

“I don’t know if it is an omen, my destiny or Karma but my female part doesn’t function properly. I have a constant stream of urine that never stops. My parents initially thought it might fix itself, but this never happened.

Due to my family’s socioeconomic condition we could not afford treatment. Our financial situation was so difficult I did not enroll in school until I was 8 years old.

This was a milestone for me but it was also incredibly difficult. I was teased constantly and humiliated due to the constant strong smell of urine. (17)

Over time my problem got worse and when I was 9 I was taken to Kholpur Hospital in Nepalgunj for treatment. I was admitted for 2 months and prescribed medicine but this didn’t help. Later the doctor told my family that my bladder was not properly formed and recommended me for surgery. But my family could not afford treatment and my father took me back home.

Due to lack of treatment I cannot participate in sport and as my health worsens I find it difficult to walk, stand or sit and I do not sleep well.” (18)
 

ARJUN CHIRIMA (p. 21-22)

Born 2001 with ambiguous genitals.

“Since birth I have suffered from a continuous flow of urine from my genitals. My family, initially sought medical treatment for me in the teaching hospital in Kathmandu. The doctor recommended that I undergo surgery, but for this my parents would need to pay almost 3 lakhs Nepali Rupees (about 3000 US$) which they were unable to afford. As a result my family returned home with me without treatment. (21)

However, due to my urinary incontinence and the continuous foul smell of urine, I was teased and most of my classmates disowned me and humiliated me many times. Due to such a hostile and uneasy environment, I was forced to leave school. Even within my wider community I feel rejected as they are not at all happy with the way I was born. My family too receive criticism and are isolated and looked upon differently in my community.” (22)
 

The general problem of lack of access to health care for not rich Nepalis, ascerbating the denial of needed health care for intersex children and adults, and compounding their suffering, is described in a medical publication as follows:

“Almost no health insurance exists in Nepal. Patients and their families are expected to bear the total cost of medical treatment, which often means that they must sell land or borrow money. Added to these costs are other medical supplies required by the patient. This cost of treatment is further compounded for many Nepalese patients, who must travel from their rural communities to the hospital.”
Source: Plastic Surgery International, Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 870902, http://www.hindawi.com/journals/psi/2011/870902/. 
 

>>> DONATE for Intersex Nepalis Arjun (15) + Amar (17) for Needed Health Care

    TABLE OF CONTENTS “Intersex Genital Mutilations, Stigma and Bullying in Nepal”
    1.  Background: 1st Intersex Workshop, Intersex Stories Book, 2016 CRC NGO Report
    2.  Intersex Genital Mutilations in Nepali Paediatric Hospitals
         a) IGM in Publications by Doctors and Hospitals
         b) IGM in Witnesses Accounts
    3.  Denial of Needed Health Care
    4.  Stigma, Bullying and Isolation
    •  Nepal questioned over IGM by UN Child Rights Committee – Gov denies 
 
See also:
• 11 Verdicts by UN Treaty Bodies Condemning IGM – And Counting …
• 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) condems IGM
• Historic 56th Session of Committee against Torture reprimands 4 Governments over 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