Intersex rights in Mexico
Mexico
Protection of physical integrity and bodily autonomyNo
Protection from discriminationNo

In Mexico there are no explicit rights reserved to intersex persons, no protections from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions on intersex children and no legislative protection from discrimination. Intersex persons may have difficulties in obtaining necessary health care.

History

In April 2018, Latin American and Caribbean intersex activists published the San José de Costa Rica statement, defining local demands.[1]

Physical integrity and bodily autonomy

  Legal prohibition of non-consensual medical interventions
  Regulatory suspension of non-consensual medical interventions

The intersex civil society organization Brújula Intersexual calls for self-determination by intersex people.[2] It documents the health and human rights situation facing intersex people in Mexico, and in the Latin American region more broadly, including societal taboos, incomprehension, unnecessary medicalization, and discrimination.[3][4][5] Ricardo Baruch, writing in Animal Politico and citing Laura Inter, describes the situation on where intersex is constantly left out of discussion or policy because it is not very understood, even though it is a biological situation.[6]

In March 2017, a representative of Brújula Intersexual, testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the human rights situation facing intersex people in Latin America.[7][8]

In July 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued concluding observations on harmful practices, recommending that Mexico "explicitly prohibiting the performance of unnecessary surgical or other medical treatment on intersex children" until they can consent. The committee also called for the provision of counselling and support to families.[9]

Protection from discrimination

  Explicit protection from discrimination on grounds of sex characteristics
  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex status
  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex within attribute of sex

Brújula Intersexual has found that few doctors are trained and sensitized on intersex issues, leading to a tendency to recommend genital surgeries or hormonal treatments to create "normality" even where individuals have escaped such intersex medical interventions as children.[6] It has documented problems with medical examinations and treatments as a result of such practices.[4] Brújula Intersexual has also documented significant levels of poverty and disparities in access to health care based upon family wealth and income.[4][5]

Identification documents

Laura Inter of Brújula Intersexual and Eva Alcántara of UAM Xochimilco have cited arguments that the most pressing problems facing intersex people are treatment to enforce a sex binary, and not the existence of the sex binary itself.[10] Laura Inter has imagined a society where sex or gender classifications are removed from birth certificates and other official identification documents,[4] and Brújula Intersexual has called for a right to legal documentation with no obligation to state any gender, in a submission to a review of the Yogyakarta Principles.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Participants at the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Conference of Intersex Persons (April 13, 2018). "San José de Costa Rica Statement". Brújula Intersexual. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  2. ↑ Rodrigo, Borja (December 11, 2016). "Intersexualidad: La ablación legal al servicio del género". El Mundo. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  3. ↑ Inter, Laura (2015). "Finding My Compass". Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics. 5 (2): 95–98. doi:10.1353/nib.2015.0039. PMID 26300133. S2CID 20101103.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Inter, Laura (October 3, 2016). "The situation of the intersex community in Mexico". Intersex Day. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  5. 1 2 Inter, Laura (October 28, 2016). "La situación de la comunidad intersexual de México*". Diario Avanzada. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  6. 1 2 Baruch, Ricardo (October 13, 2016), Sí, hay personas intersexuales en México, Animal Politico, archived from the original on June 12, 2017
  7. ↑ LATFEM Periodismo feminista (2017-03-20). "Las voces de las personas intersex ante la Comisión Interamericana". LATFEM. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  8. ↑ Fonseca, Sarah (October 26, 2016), "This Intersex Awareness Day, some notes on the 'I' in LGBTQI", URGE, archived from the original on April 29, 2017
  9. ↑ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (July 2018). "Concluding observations on the ninth periodic report of Mexico". Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  10. ↑ Alcántara, Eva; Inter, Laura (March 2015). "Intersexualidad y derechos humanos" (PDF). Dfensor. Inter-American Court of Human Rights: 28–32. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-19.
  11. ↑ Inter, Laura; Aoi, Hana (February 23, 2017). "Submission on the Yogyakarta Principles: Human rights issues and perspectives from the experience of the intersex community in Mexico". Brújula Intersexual.

Bibliography

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