UN Condemn Intersex Genital Mutilations – 12 Reprimands so far …

Paul Kissack, Head of UK delegation during 1st session, Palais Wilson 23.05.2016
(Lower right corner: Kirsten Sandberg, Committee Co-Rapporteur on the UK)
>>> Unofficial Transcription   >>> IGM in the UK: Background + Quotes

Zwischengeschlecht.org on FacebookBackground: The UN Condemn Intersex Genital Mutilations

IGM = Hamful Practice

Typical forms of IGM practices include involuntary ‘masculinising’ and ‘feminising’ genital surgery, sterilising procedures, imposition of hormones, forced genital exams, vaginal dilations, medical display, withholding information from patients and 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, torture and child sexual abuse, and called for legislation to end it and to ensure remedies.

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook12 Reprimands over IGM Practices – And counting …

So far, UN Treaty bodies have issued 12 verdicts condemning IGM:

The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) 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 the Child (CRC) has repeatedly criticised IGM as ‘violence’ and a ‘harmful practice’, and thus comparable to Female Genital Mutilation, and since 2015 has reprimanded Switzerland, Chile, Ireland 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 12 verdicts, the Committes 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).

IGM Practices 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
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>>  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
 

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)

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