CEDAW67 > Testimony to Intersex Genital Mutilation in Italy

>>> italiano 

Claudia Balsamo (left), with Daniela Truffer, after testifying to IGM in Italy to the
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
Geneva 03.07.2017

Zwischengeschlecht.org on FacebookAt the 67th Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), before Italy was questioned over Intersex Genital Mutilations, NGOs had the possibility to brief CEDAW (>>> podcast of the entire briefing).

Read below the 2-minutes oral statement by Italian intersex advocate and IGM survivor Claudia Balsamo:
>>> PDF (77kb
  >>> Video (@ 9:10 min)

StopIGM.org
NGO Oral Statement CEDAW67 Italy, 03.07.2017

Claudia Balsamo

Thank you, Madame Chair

When I was born in 1960, I looked like a girl, but after a year my mother noticed I had atypical genitalia.

Countless exams by different doctors followed. At four they opened my abdomen and found normal testes.

When I was eleven, they removed my testes and cut my clitoris.

Due to the removal of parts of my clitoris and scarring, it’s really hard for me to achieve orgasm.

Since 1985 I tried to obtain my medical records, but I was always refused on grounds of “professional secrecy”.

Only after my father died, in 2007 I found some documents in his desk, but then it was too late, and statutes of limitations had long expired.

To this day, I still see a psychologist to deal with all this, which I have to pay for out of my own pocket.

As shown in our report [1], in Italy all forms of Intersex Genital Mutilation persist, paid for by the state.

Doctors openly boast in the media about a large increase in surgeries [2], the National DSD Study Group openly advocates the practice [3], and Italian clinics collaborate with European projects promoting involuntary interventions [4].

These violations have been repeatedly brought to the attention of the State [5], and Italy has already been reprimanded by CRPD [6] for permitting IGM to continue.

Nonetheless, the State party fails to explicitly prohibit by law and adequately sanction or criminalise the practice.

Thank you.

[1]  2017 CEDAW Italy NGO Report, see Annexe 2, p. 23-28, http://intersex.shadowreport.org/public/2017-CEDAW- Italy-NGO-Zwischengeschlecht-Intersex-IGM.pdf
[2]  ibid., see A.8., p. 13-14
[3]  Gruppo di Studie It-DSD (2015), “Differenze dello sviluppo del sesso”, p. 4, http://www.gruppodistudio-it-dsd.org/diffsvilup/1_ntroduzione_overview.pdf
[4]  StopIGM.org (2017), “Open Letter of Concern to 6th I-DSD 2017, DSDnet, eUROGEN, Endo-ERN, DSD-Life and Affiliates”, /wp-content/uploads/Open_Letter_I-DSD_Copenhagen_2017.pdf
[5]  2017 CEDAW Italy NGO Report, see A.8., p. 13-14
[6]  CRPD/C/ITA/CO/1, paras 45-46

>>> Bearing witness to IGM: UN-CEDAW67 Italy + CCPR120 Switzerland
>>> CEDAW67 Italy: UN Press Release on NGO Briefing english | français
>>> CEDAW67 Italy: Video Session 2 @ 1:58h

2017 CEDAW Italy NGO Intersex IGM

NGO Report to the 7th Report of Italy on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

>>>  Download (PDF 650 kb)

Compiled by:
Claudia Balsamo
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!

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook

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

Zwischengeschlecht.org on Facebook

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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