Ligestillingsudvalget 2018-19 (1. samling)
LIU Alm.del Bilag 80
Offentligt
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Protecting Intersex People in Europe
A toolkit for policy and law makers
Dan Christian Ghattas
CHECKLIST
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
CHECKLIST - INDEX
1. Protecting Intersex People’s Bodily Integrity
2. Protecting Intersex People from Discrimination in All Areas
3. Health
4. Education
5. Hate crime and hate speech
6. Gender marker registration at birth
7. Legal gender recognition
8. Access to justice and redress
9. Data collection: addressing research gaps
10. Funding – creating sustainability
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
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1. Protecting Intersex People’s BODILY INTEGRITY
In order to ensure intersex people’s right to health, self-determination and bodily integrity, states
should create laws that explicitly
prohibit any irreversible, non-emergency surgical or other interventions unless the intersex
person has provided personal, free and fully informed consent
establish adequate legal sanctions for medical professionals who conduct of any irreversible,
non-emergency surgical and/or other interventions which can be deferred but are not
establish an independent working group composed in equal measure of human rights
experts, intersex peer experts, psychosocial professionals and medical experts, to review and
revise treatment protocols
establish the right to expert-sensitive
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counselling with providers trained to work with
intersex people
extend the retention period for medical records to at least 40 years
extend the statutes of limitations for surgical and/or other interventions to at least 20 years,
and suspend them until the minimum age of 21 of the person concerned
allow for surgical and/or other reversible and irreversible interventions on a mature minor, if
the mature minor gives personal and fully informed consent
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establish the presence of an independent third party to take part in the process, in
order to guarantee consent principles
establish the legal obligations for medical professionals to:
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to inform the individual comprehensively about the treatment, including other
possible medical options and details about risks and possible long-term
consequences and effects, based on up-to-date medical information
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provide detailed minutes of the consultation to the patient and their parent(s) or
legal guardian(s)
end the coverage of Intersex Genital Mutilation by the public and private health system.
ensure that regulations and practices in public and private sectors do not bypass national
protection and anti-discrimination legislation and provisions
2. Protecting Intersex People from Discrimination in All AREAS
include “sex characteristics” as a protective ground in all existing and upcoming anti-
discrimination legislation and provisions as well as in hate crime and hate speech legislation
and provisions. The ground “sex characteristics” should:
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be explicitly included in all equal treatment and anti-discrimination provisions and
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legislation
ensure explicit protection in the fields of employment, access to goods and services,
including housing, and biased-motivated violence
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From the text of the 2017 Maltese law, “expert-sensitive” refers simultaneously to explicit expertise coupled with
sensitivity through tailored education programmes.
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
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ensure explicit protection against discrimination in the areas of social protection,
including social security and healthcare, and social advantages and membership of
and involvement in organisations of workers and employers
ensure that the statutes of limitation take into account the length of time a victim of
discrimination needs to recover from discrimination
establish comprehensive awareness raising measures for the general public
establish obligatory human rights-based training on intersex and intersex issues for
professionals working in the areas of:
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health including doctors, midwives, psychologists and other professionals working in
the health sector (e.g. reception desk staff)
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mental health and counselling professionals
education
law enforcement
elderly care
teachers, social workers, school psychologists and school staff
trade unions and work councils
medical officers and company physicians
3. HEALTH
Establish:
the right to obtain treatment based on the individual’s physical needs and are not limited by
the sex/gender marker in their official documents
the right to lifelong coverage of any medication needed as a result of surgical and/or other
interventions on the sex characteristics of a person, by national health insurance
reimbursement systems
the right to access coverage for any treatments that is not limited by the sex/gender marker
in a person’s documents
the right to counselling and support for all concerned individuals and their families
the right of survivors of intersex genital mutilation (IGM) to access reparative treatment
the right of access to medical records
Take measures to:
ensure intersex people’s and their families’ psychosocial and peer support
establish professional intersex peer counselling (i.e. peer support by trained peer
counsellors)
include intersex and intersex issues in all medical curricula and curricula in the area of health
include positive and empowering information about the existence of intersex people in
information material directed to future parents
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
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4. EDUCATION
Key additional measures to protect intersex students include:
establishing systems of support for vulnerable students, specifically including intersex
students and their needs
establishing disaggregated data collection on bullying and harassment in school
environments
establishing monitoring and evaluating tools and measurements for school inclusiveness
including intersex people and the existence of more than two biological sexes in a positive
and empowering way in school curricula, text books and education materials
establishing school policies that
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explicitly protect intersex students/students with a variation of sex characteristics
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include basic facts about intersex students
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explicitly respect the right of all students to discuss and express their gender identity
and expression as well as their sex characteristics openly
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explicitly include derogatory language into the scope of bullying
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cover behaviour that takes place in the school, on school property, at school-
sponsored functions and activities, as well as usage of electronic technology
and
electronic communication that occurs in the school, on school property, at school
sponsored functions and activities, on school computers, networks, fora and mailing
lists
establish low-threshold, psychological and social support mechanisms for intersex
students
explicitly establish the entitlement of the intersex student to be provided with, on
request, specific arrangements in relation to gender specific facilities such as toilets
and changing rooms
encourage schools to designate facilities designed for use by one person at a time as
accessible to all students regardless of their sex or gender, and to incorporate such
single-user facilities into new construction or renovation
allow for all students to participate in physical education classes and sports activities,
including competition sports, in a manner consistent with their gender identity
encourage schools to evaluate all gender-based facilities, activities, rules, policies,
and practices in order to ensure that they meet equal treatment requirements
explicitly obligate school staff to use the name and pronoun based on the student’s
request, regardless of whether these have been changed in official documents
confirm or establish the school’s obligation to change a student’s official records to
reflect a change in legal name or gender upon receipt of documentation that such
change has been authorised
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
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5. HATE CRIME AND HATE SPEECH
In order to combat all forms of expressions that are likely to produce, spread or promote hatred and
discrimination of intersex people, it is important to:
include “sex characteristics” as a protective ground in existing hate speech and hate
crime legislation and provisions
prohibit intersexphobic speech in the media, including the Internet
include intersex people as a vulnerable group in provisions and measures concerning the
rights, support and protection of victims of crime
monitor intersexphobic hate speech and hate crime
create and evaluate protective measures to prevent intersexphobic hate speech and
hate crimes
evaluate existing measures in regards to intersex inclusion
6. GENDER MARKER REGISTRATION AT BIRTH
As long as gender markers are registered at birth, states should ensure that the existing diversity of
sexes and genders is reflected in options available to register the child’s sex/gender. States should
statutorily and before the child is born, provide parents with information about the legal
options for registering their child
make three (male, female, non-binary or equivalent) or more gender markers available
when registering a child without any medical statement or diagnosis
allow for gender-neutral names (without a stipulation for an additional gendered name)
allow for gender-neutral family names
allow for postponing gender registration on the birth certificate until the child is mature
enough to participate in the decisionmaking process
allow for birth certificates without a gender marker entry
allow for parents and legal caretakers to choose M, F, X for a child’s passport, when the
child was registered as non-binary (or equivalent), non-specified or without a gender
marker (entry left blank or registered as “not specified”)
7. LEGAL GENDER RECOGNITION
Please see the comprehensive 2016 toolkit and checklist “Legal Gender Recognition in Europe”
published by Transgender Europe.
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https://tgeu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Toolkit16LR.pdf
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 LIU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 80: Henvendelse af 17/5-19 fra Intersex Danmark om toolkit til politiske beslutningstagere om interkøn
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8. ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND REDRESS
The 2013 Malta Declaration, which contains the joint demands of the international intersex
community, calls on states to:
recognise that medicalisation and stigmatisation of intersex people result in significant
trauma and mental health concerns
provide adequate acknowledgement of the suffering and injustice caused to intersex
people in the past
provide adequate redress, reparation, access to justice and the right to truth.
9. DATA COLLECTION: addressing research gaps
There are some parameters, which, when taken into account, have proven to increase the usefulness
of research findings on intersex people and help the development of targeted research approaches:
Research on intersex must ask about experiences, not about identity
Intersex people should not be researched only as a subgroup of LGBTI but as an
independent part of the population; data segregation is key
Work together with intersex-led organisations and intersex-led peer support groups
Consult with intersex activists and organisations when creating questionnaires AND
when analysing and contextualising the data
10. FUNDING - Creating sustainability
OII Europe and ILGA-Europe, in conjunction with the key recommendations from the above
mentioned funding reports, call on States to:
fund work led by intersex people 

provide flexible and stable funding to intersex organisations and groups

provide sufficient funding for paid staff
invest in anti-trauma work and burnout prevention

invest in the organisational strengthening of intersex organisations and groups 

support intersex activists to build community and national-level work
educate funding institutions and peers about intersex issues 

decrease the barriers for intersex groups in finding and applying for funding
invest in intersex-led projects offering trainings for medical and other professionals
invest in peer support groups, preferably those who work from a de-pathologising and
human rights perspective
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