Human Rights
UN Calls for an End to Genital-Normalizing Surgeries!
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture issued a statement on 1 February 2013 in Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez recognising that intersex people have been subject to non-consensual medical normalisation treatment, and calling for an end to forced sterilisation, forced hormone treatment, and…
Read MoreCoverage of the Intersex Forum in Stockholm
Intersex activists from around the world demand human rights.
Read MoreViloria in The Global Herald on human rights violations against intersex runner Pinki Pramanik
As Hida Viloria reports in “Criminalized Because of One’s Sex”: On June 14th, Indian gold medal winner Pinki Pramanik was arrested following accusations of rape and “being male” by her live-in partner. She was suspended from her job, detained in a male ward, and an MMS of one of her mandatory gender-verification tests, in which…
Read MoreInternational Intersex Community makes 7 Demands for Human Rights at the 2nd Annual Intersex Forum in Stockholm
Between 9-11 December 2012, the second International Intersex Forum took place in Stockholm. This event brought together 37 activists representing 33 intersex organisations and supportive institutions from all continents. The Forum agreed to affirm the principles of the first International Intersex Forum and extended the demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people and to ensure the…
Read MoreOpen Letter to the UN OHCHR: 1st global call for human rights by & for intersex people!
On Human Rights Day, December 10th, 2012, participants of the 2nd International Intersex Forum, in Stockholm, with the assistance of ILGA and ILGA-Europe, published and delivered the, “Open Letter: A Call for Human Rights for Intersex People,” authored by OII Chair Hida Viloria, to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. As outlined in…
Read MoreViloria in Ms. Magazine, with co-author Georgianne Davis
In “Olympics’ new Hormone Regulations: Judged by How You Look“, our E.D. and intersex activist and Professor of Sociology, Georgianne Davis, explore sporting authorities’ recently released regulations for intersex women athletes with high testosterone levels, aka hyperandrpgenism. Namely, they expound upon the issue which Viloria, Karkazis and others have previously explored, of how strong biases…
Read MorePetition on ending intersex female genital cutting in the US
We invite readers to sign this petition by Advocates for an Informed Choice in the US: Dear Secretary Clinton & Ambassador Verveer, February 6, 2013 marks the tenth annual International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). Cosmetic genital surgery is a practice of cutting girls so that they can fit cultural norms,…
Read MoreReexamining Rationales of “Fairness”: An Athlete and Insider’s Perspective on the New Policies on Hyperandrogenism in Elite Female Athletes
OII global chair, Hida Viloria, and former Olympic athlete Maria Jose Martínez-Patino write in The American Journal of Bioethics on proposed policies by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the IOC relating to hyperandrogenism in women athletes (but notably not male athletes). Read full article Reexamining Rationales of Fairness An Athlete and Insider s…
Read MoreOII Australa/OII NZ release submission on DSM-5 and SOC-7
OII Australia, together with OII Aotearoa/NZ, has recently released a submission [PDF] to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), regarding the draft Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. Submission short url: http://tinyurl.com/bud47jq The APA is the body that, until 1973, classified homosexuality as a mental disorder. The APA currently regards gender non-conformity to…
Read More