OUCH!! UN Press Release calls IGM “sex alignment surgeries”, IGM survivors “transsexual children”! Guess why :-(

UPDATE: Unfortunately, also the Concluding observations for Argentina by the Committee against Torture did NOT raise intersex or IGM, marking already the 2nd consecutive no-show in CAT recommendations (after Finland in CAT59)!
Intersex Appropriation
Is NOT A Victimless Crime!

“Intersex is NOT THE SAME as LGBT or SOGI
Unfortunately, there are several harmful misconceptions about intersex still prevailing in public, notably if intersex is counterfactually described as being the same as or a subset of LGBT or SOGI, e.g. […] as the same as transsexuality […].
[…] IGM practices present a distinct and unique issue constituting significant human rights violations, which are different from those faced by the LGBT community, and thus need to be adequately addressed in a separate section as specific intersex issues.”

2017 CAT60 Intersex NGO Report Argentina (PDF), p. 7
  

IGM = Torture, NOT 'Discrimination' or 'Gender Identity'

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Usually, the precis writers at the UN typing up the meeting summaries also used for the UN press releases are quite knowledgeable about IGM. However, there are also exceptions to this rule, and then the above mentioned harmful misconceptions about intersex and IGM hit even more painful and often also more damaging than the usual endless barrage of misrepresentation of intersex and wilful instrumentalisation of the suffering of IGM victims for 3rd party interests dominating our everyday lives.

Unfortunately, both (!!) the English and the French UN press release issued after the review of Argentina during the 60th CAT session turned out to be such exceptions, wich regrettably seem to be on the rise.

While the >>> English UN press release at least mentioned that it’s about intersex people, it nonetheless always erroneously calls IGM “sex alignment surgeries” (i.e. voluntary procedures on transsexual or transgender persons) – despite that this fallacious term was NEVER brought up by neither the CAT expert nor by the delegation (compare full transcript of CAT60 Argentina intersex Q&A):

Committee against Torture reviews report of Argentina

Follow-up Questions

[…]

KENING ZHANG, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Argentina, expressed concern about sex alignment surgeries performed on intersex persons without their consent, as such practices amounted to acts of torture. […]

Responses by the Delegation

[…]

With regard to sex alignment surgeries on intersex persons, the delegation stressed that everyone in Argentina had the right to body integrity and sovereignty, including intersex persons.  In the law, a child under age of 13 was represented by a legal representative; children aged between 13 and 16 had the right to be involved in any legal procedures involving them and in any procedures involving their body.  They were considered adults in matters of their own bodies from the age of 16.  Consent of the person in question or his or her legal representative was required for a surgery to take place.  The best interest of the child was the leading principle. […]”

Even worse, the >>> French UN Press Release not only wrongly introduces intersex NGOs Justicia Intersex and StopIGM.org as “a group of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex victims of discrimination and violence”, but on top continuously describes IGM as “surgical interventions on transsexual [!!!] children” :

“Le Comité contre la Torture examine le rapport de l’Argentine

Examen du rapport

Questions et observations des membres du Comité

[…]

Le corapporteur a par la suite indiqué avoir été approché par un groupe de lesbiennes, gays, bisexuels, transgenres et intersexués victimes de discrimination et de violences en Argentine. Le groupe recommande à cet égard l’interdiction des interventions chirurgicales sur les enfants transsexuels jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient atteint l’âge de pouvoir décider eux-mêmes de leur sexe et demande que des indemnisations soient accordées aux personnes victimes de telles interventions sans leur consentement.

[…]

Réponses de la délégation

[…]

La délégation a d’autre part souligné que le Ministère de la justice avait pris des mesures pour répondre aux besoins spécifiques des personnes transsexuelles emprisonnées.  S’agissant des opérations chirurgicales sur des personnes transsexuelles, il a été précisé que les personnes mineures (âgées de 3 à 16 ans) sont toujours entendues dans les procédures qui les concernent.  Un acte de chirurgie doit être validé par le tuteur légal ou par un juge, le cas échéant, et l’Argentine garantit à toute personne le droit de s’identifier au genre de son choix, a assuré la délégation. […]”

UPDATE: Unfortunately, also the Concluding observations for Argentina by the Committee against Torture did NOT raise intersex or IGM, marking already the 2nd consecutive no-show in CAT recommendations (after Finland in CAT59)!

Intersex Appropriation Is NOT A Victimless Crime!

How much longer?!

IGM Practices in Argentina: 2017 CAT Report
Human Rights Violations Of Persons With Variations Of Sex Anatomy
IGM in Argentina  Complicity of the State  IGM as Inhuman Treatment
>>>  Download (PDF 267 kb)

>>> NGO Statement 25.04.2017 on IGM in Argentina by Justicia Intersex, StopIGM.org 

See also:
23 UN Reprimands for IGM – and counting …
“Harmful Medical Practice”: UN, COE, ACHPR, IACHR condem 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!

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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

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 as a Harmful Practice
>>> Download PDF (3.14 MB)     >>> Table of Contents

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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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