DOCSLIB.ORG

Dear Members of Human Rights Committee

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dear Members of Human Rights Committee Dear members of Human Rights Committee, Thank you for this opportunity and your reading this brief report. I am Hiker Chiu. I come from Taiwan. I am the founder of Oii-Chinese and also the initiator of “Global Free Hugs with Intersex movement”. I am making efforts in intersex visibility, connecting intersex people around the world and advocating intersex awareness by public education about intersex human rights issues. I am here to represent myself as an intersex person and an intersex activist from Chinese speaking areas in Taiwan and China. Human Rights violation on Intersex in Taiwaan Today, most intersex subjects are still in hiding because of discrimination. The absence of their voices prompts me and Oii-Chinese to remain patient and work harder to help them speak, to be heard and be value. Taiwan and China share similar cultural traditions. Democracy made Taiwan more open than China. As soon as intersex normalization protocol was developed by John Money in US in 1950s, Taiwan adopted it. The first intersex normalizing surgery was done in 1953. My enlarged clitoris was removed in 1972 when I was six. A similar surgery has been performed on an 11 year old CAH girl in her first month after birth in 2004. Her mother reported that the doctor had intended to encourage and push for an early surgical normalization intervention. Now, she worries about the gender identity issue of her girl. After listening to my talk in 2012, a doctor told me that surgical intervention at an early age is still considered the best timing for intersex infants. The unnecessary, unconsented surgical interventions without human rights concern are still practiced by doctors in Taiwan. At least around 20 CAH (Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, a most common form of intersex variations with ambiguous genital ) babies born every year (according to the government report) in Taiwan are still in high risk to be surgical corrected without informed consent and being deprived their human rights of bodily integrity, self-autonomy and self- determination. Taiwan society are still ignorant to aware that intersex as a variations of human bodies, discrimination on intersex (neither male nor female) keeps intersex hiding. Being intersex in China Intersex people and the status of being neither male nor female have been discriminated in traditional Chinese society for thousands of years. It is shameful to have an intersex child and to be intersex in traditional Chinese culture. Intersex is seen as a monster that is a sign of bad luck to the family, village and even to the whole country in ancient China. It 1 is still believed by many people that having an intersex child must be a punishment for parents that have done too many bad things in their past lives. Once the secret has been let out, it will be disastrous lives for the intersex children, intersex adults and also their families. Gender binary concept is very strong in the Chinese society. Atypical genital, appearance and cultural gender norm are huge pressures and challenges to healthy intersex children in China. To make a choice between male and female physically is a very certain and common agreement also pressure by most people in the society including doctors, parents, general public and even intersex persons themselves. Most intersex people fear of being seen as abnormal and suffer from discrimination by being neither male nor female. Once the intersex status is uncovered, it is very difficult to live as a human being in Chinese society. Being abandon, discriminated, isolated, bully, excluded will come after soon, even from family. Many of them will drop off from school, leave their home alone and even commit suicide to escape from discriminations and severe sufferings from the social pressure. It is often kept secret in the family, sometimes even to the intersex child. It is the best policy to protect themselves by keep hiding. But the secret is often hard to keep in rural areas. Normalizing surgery actually is a huge demand from parents and intersex adults in China, specially those from poor traditional rural areas. It means there is huge pressure on physically healthy intersex people who keep their bodily integrity that suffer mentally from the discriminations and stigma from culture and society. Discrimination creates demand normalizing surgery but also prevent intersex people to get proper health care. The reasons for non-surgery include poverty, wanting to keep the secret, feeling shameful to go to the doctor, not trusting the hospital to protect their privacy, lacking information and knowledge, local hospitals not having the means to deal with surgery and giving up the intersex child. The key intersex human rights issue, “early aged, non-necessary normalizing surgery to fit the social need without consent”, or “IGM”, is not yet a big issue in China right now. They do happen to families that can afford early childhood surgery for intersex children but, only a small portion of intersex adults who had been assigned wrongly have awareness of this issue and almost all of them keep it as a secret. Up to now, unlike some western countries where intersex children can express their wishes and intersex adults are consulted about their choice of gender before surgery, Chinese parents have the power over their intersex children to make the ultimate decisions for them. Intersex people in China are not as concerned with unnecessary medical intervention without consent. But,due to the immense discrimination and pressure there is a huge desire in families of intersex children and also often in intersex adults themselves to be surgically “normalized”. 2 Therefore modern western medical doctors are seen as saviors of the intersex family and intersex people. Doctors continue to promote what they learn from the western medication, promoting early childhood normalization surgery to prevent psychological harm from the society. Healthy intersex space is further framing by western medication in China to be a condition could and should be normalized. There is less and less space for physical healthy intersex people to keep their bodily integrity. Under this circumstance, non-necessary, cosmetic intersex medical intervention at an early age could increase as fast as economic growth in China and become the big intersex human right violation issue by the culture need in the very near future. The key issue in Taiwan and China is to eliminate discrimination on intersex people in the society to prevent healthy intersex people to do the normalizing surgery under social stigma and discrimination. And to raise the intersex human rights awareness to the whole society especially in intersex people, parents and doctors to prevent “early normalizing surgery without consent” and “IGM”. At the same time, intersex visibility as variations of human being should be included in general and public education and knowledge system around the world. We need to have a space to be who we are without discrimination. 3 Advocates for Informed Choice October 28, 2015 aiclegal.org I. Introduction Americans born with intersex conditions face a wide range of violations of their sexual and reproductive rights, as well as rights to bodily integrity and individual autonomy. In infancy and throughout childhood, children with intersex conditions are subject to irreversible sex assignment and involuntary genital normalizing surgery, sterilization, medical display and photography of the genitals, and medical experimentation. Intersex individuals suffer life-long physical and emotional injury as a result of such treatment. Various human rights bodies have recognized that the medical treatment of people with intersex conditions rises to the level of human rights violations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the elimination of involuntary sterilization, noting that sterilization without informed consent has been described as a violation of fundamental human rights. (WHO 2014) WHO recognizes that “[i]ntersex persons, in particular, have been subjected to cosmetic and other non-medically necessary surgery in infancy, leading to sterility, without informed consent of either the person in question or their parents or guardians.” (WHO 2014) The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has called for data collection on the frequency of genital mutilation and forced sterilization of intersex children, and a plan to end these practices, in Germany. (CRPD 2014) The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) has also called for an end to the abuses against intersex people: “Children who are born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization, involuntary genital normalizing surgery, performed without their informed consent, or that of their parents, ‘in an attempt to fix their sex’, leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility and causing severe mental suffering. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to repeal any law allowing intrusive and irreversible treatments, including forced genital-normalizing surgery, involuntary sterilization, unethical experimentation, [or] medical display … when enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned. He also calls upon them to outlaw forced or coerced sterilization in all circumstances and provide special protection to individuals belonging to marginalized groups” (SRT 2013) Despite this international outcry, these procedures are still occurring in the US today. II. Violations experienced by people with intersex conditions in health care settings A. Irreversible sex assignment and genital normalizing surgery When a child is born with an intersex condition, parents and doctors are often unsettled by the child’s atypical genitals and the possibility of “gender uncertainty.” Due to a sense of urgency about making a gender assignment, genital “normalizing” surgery commonly 4 occurs in the first two years of life, often by six months. Medical literature admits that these surgeries are cosmetic and intended to ensure gender-normative behavior, such as standing to urinate in children assigned as boys.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Background Note on Human Rights Violations Against Intersex People Table of Contents 1 Introduction
    Background Note on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 2 Understanding intersex ................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Situating the rights of intersex people......................................................................... 4 2.2 Promoting the rights of intersex people....................................................................... 7 3 Forced and coercive medical interventions......................................................................... 8 4 Violence and infanticide ............................................................................................... 20 5 Stigma and discrimination in healthcare .......................................................................... 22 6 Legal recognition, including registration at birth ............................................................... 26 7 Discrimination and stigmatization .................................................................................. 29 8 Access to justice and remedies ....................................................................................... 32 9 Addressing root causes of human rights violations ............................................................ 35 10 Conclusions and way forward..................................................................................... 37 10.1 Conclusions
    [Show full text]
  • Briefing Note: LGBTI-Inclusive Gender Equality Work Prepared by ILGA-Europe February 2020 It Is a Pivotal Moment in Europe
    Briefing note: LGBTI-inclusive Gender Equality work Prepared by ILGA-Europe February 2020 It is a pivotal moment in Europe, and beyond, when it comes to discussions of gender and gender equality. With the European Commission’s next Gender Equality Strategy on the near horizon, it is vital to ensure that the Strategy and the resulting policies, programmes, and positions are comprehensive and modern, addressing the gender-based needs of all women and girls in Europe and acknowledging the existence of non-binary and third gender European and global citizens. The following are points to remember in these ongoing discussions on inclusive gender equality policies and how to best frame issues impacting LBTI women, as well as non-binary people, where appropriate. 1. Intersex and trans women and girls are women and girls First and foremost, it is essential that Europe take a clear position: intersex and trans women and girls are women and girls. All too often, language is used that not only marginalises trans and intersex women and girls, but reverts to biological essentialism and creates false categories that are much too limiting. Furthermore, opponents of the rights of women, LGBTI people, and other minorities have started to dismiss the term “gender” as dangerous, and have thus put in question the long- established terminology of “sex” and “gender”, wherein “sex” refers to the biological reality of a body, and “gender” to the cultural meaning and form that that body acquires, the variable modes of that body's acculturation. The distinction between sex and gender has been crucial to the long-standing feminist effort to debunk the claim that anatomy is destiny and move forward for more equality.
    [Show full text]
  • Activity Report of ILGA-Europe
    Activity Report 2018-2019 Report on ILGA-Europe’s Strategic Framework 2019-2023 Highlights and Achievements This section aims to report on the work done by ILGA-Europe towards achieving the goals set out under our Strategic Framework 2019-2023. This report covers work carried out between November 2018 and October 2019. PATHWAY 1 – Empowered and inclusive LGBTI communities The first pathway towards achieving our vision is having an “Empowered and inclusive LGBTI communities”, which means that LGBTI people, including those who are underrepresented and/or marginalised, have safe(er) spaces to come together, and can access services and support that respond to their needs, know about their rights and feel empowered to exercise them, have a voice and agency in decision-making process that impact their daily lives, take active part in all domains of public life, and are fully included in all aspects of the development and work of LGBTI movements To a significant extent, ILGA-Europe’s role is largely to strengthen the capacity of LGBTI groups and organisations to engage in community building and organising members. Building on the Community Organising project which ended in 2018, we have been integrating the resources into our different programmes and events. For example, we co-organised a learning and peer exchange platform bringing together community organisers from over 15 LGBTI organisations and groups that run community centres in places where civil society has been under pressure. As another example, we spoke on a panel about the anti-gender movement and intersex issues during the Oll Europe Community Event, and worked with over 60 intersex activists from 25 countries to further strengthen the working relationship between the two networks.
    [Show full text]
  • P V Ukraine Final 14 November
    IN THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS P. versus Ukraine (Application no. 40296/16) WRITTEN COMMENTS Submitted jointly by ILGA-Europe (the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) OII Europe (Organisation Intersex International Europe) 14 November 2017 1 Introduction 1. These written comments are submitted jointly by ILGA-Europe and OII Europe. 2. The present case involves an intersex person registered at birth as male, but identifying herself as female. The applicant requested that the competent Registration Office in Kyiv, Ukraine to confirm her status as female and adjust her name, patronymic and surname accordingly. Her request was rejected as the legislation in place provided only for the civil status records of transsexual persons to be changed following sex reassignment surgery, but did not regulate the situation of intersex persons. 3. This submission is structured as follows. (1) Introduction: The meaning of ‘intersex’ status (2) Law and practice of legal gender recognition and name change in Ukraine (3) The Court’s case-law on names and legal gender recognition (4) International trends I. Introduction: The meaning of ‘intersex’ status 4. The term ‘intersex’ is an umbrella term covering the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex individuals are born with physical, hormonal or genetic features that are neither wholly female nor wholly male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male. These features can manifest themselves in secondary sexual characteristics such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breasts and stature; primary sexual characteristics such as reproductive organs and genitalia; and/or in chromosomal structures and hormones.
    [Show full text]
  • Invisibility Amplified: a Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Intersex Community in Asia” Authored by Prashant Singh and Hiker Chiu
    1 Invisibility Amplified Prashant Singh A Report on the impact of COVID-19 on intersex community in Asia Insights from Intersex Asia's COVID-19 Urgent Fund 2020 This report is a part of a global study on the situation of intersex people and their families in times of COVID-19, initiated by OII Europe and conducted by the International Intersex Community in different regions of the world. The global report will be published in 2021. Authored by: Prashant Singh, Coordinator, Intersex Asia Hiker Chiu, Executive Director, Intersex Asia Questionnaire developed by: Irene Kuzemko, OII Europe Proofreading: Dan Christian Ghattas, Irene Kuzemko Proofreading of the questionnaire: HiKer Chiu, Esan Regmi, Jeff Cagandahan, Gopi Shankar Madurai, Asa Senja Quantitative analyses of findings: Prashant Singh, Irene Kuzemko Please reference as follows: Intersex Asia (2021) Prashant Singh, “Invisibility Amplified: A Report on the impact of COVID-19 on intersex community in Asia” Authored by Prashant Singh and Hiker Chiu Available from: www.intersexasia.org Table of Contents Introduction 1 Methodology 2 Limits of the Survey 5 Findings from COVID-19 Survey 6 Intersectional Realities and Aggravated Challenges 6 Areas of life affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic 7 Access to Healthcare 9 Mental Health and Wellbeing 12 Role of Local Organisations 15 Housing 16 Finance 17 Travel and Well Being 23 Education 25 Safety 26 Internet Access 28 Conclusion and way forward 29 Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to severely impact people around the world socially and economically since early 2020. Intersex people in Asia, as a marginalized community, faced even worse impacts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global State of Lgbtiq Organizing
    THE GLOBAL STATE OF LGBTIQ ORGANIZING THE RIGHT TO REGISTER Written by Felicity Daly DrPH Every day around the world, LGBTIQ people’s human rights and dignity are abused in ways that shock the conscience. The stories of their struggles and their resilience are astounding, yet remain unknown—or willfully ignored—by those with the power to make change. OutRight Action International, founded in 1990 as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, works alongside LGBTIQ people in the Global South, with offices in six countries, to help identify community-focused solutions to promote policy for lasting change. We vigilantly monitor and document human rights abuses to spur action when they occur. We train partners to expose abuses and advocate for themselves. Headquartered in New York City, OutRight is the only global LGBTIQ-specific organization with a permanent presence at the United Nations in New York that advocates for human rights progress for LGBTIQ people. [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/outrightintl http://twitter.com/outrightintl http://www.youtube.com/lgbthumanrights http://OutRightInternational.org/iran OutRight Action International 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 1505, New York, NY 10038 U.S.A. P: +1 (212) 430.6054 • F: +1 (212) 430.6060 This work may be reproduced and redistributed, in whole or in part, without alteration and without prior written permission, solely for nonprofit administrative or educational purposes provided all copies contain the following statement: © 2018 OutRight Action International. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of OutRight Action International. No other use is permitted without the express prior written permission of OutRight Action International.
    [Show full text]
  • Impact of COVID-19 Crisis on LGBTI Communities and Organisations
    COVID-19 impacts on LGBTI communities in Europe and Central Asia: A rapid assessment report 19 June 2020 COVID-19 and the resulting measures to contain and combat the virus are generating complex challenges and risks. While the virus does not discriminate per se, it is very clear that it hits marginalised communities in our societies disproportionally harder. In addition, social distancing and other prevention measures, as needed as they are, can have unwanted negative impacts on the lives of marginalised groups. The purpose of this rapid assessment report is to provide specific references to the impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTI people, organisations, and communities in Europe and Central Asia, based on inputs from a survey of ILGA-Europe members, direct communications with members, as well as publicly accessible reports and webinars from members and organisations in the region. The survey was open from 1 to 18 June 2020, and received 52 responses from national and local LGBTI organisations from 30 countries, and direct communications were received from an additional 7 countries. Public reports produced by NGOs from 3 additional countries were also incorporated; citations for these are included as footnotes. Future versions of this report may include more information on direct communications and survey submissions. For direct communications and survey responses, please contact ILGA- Europe using the email address at the end of this report for details or to be put in touch with organisations, pending their consent. The report includes information on impacts in 7 specific areas: 1. Health and access to health 2. Hate speech by political and religious leaders 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Related Issues
    Joint thematic dialogue on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex related issues between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and United Nations human rights mechanisms. Final report and annexes 26-28 March 2018 Washington DC 1 / 97 Table of contents Context and introduction 3 Progress since 2015 5 Challenges – old and new 11 Approaches and opportunities to advance efforts 13 to combat human rights violations based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics Reinforcing collaboration and continuing dialogue 15 ANNEX 1: 19 Statement issued at the end of the 2018 joint dialogue ANNEX 2: 23 List of participants - 2018 joint dialogue ANNEX 3: 26 Agenda - 2018 joint dialogue ANNEX 4: 28 Sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the african human rights system ANNEX 5: 58 Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and intersex in the inter-american human rights system ANNEX 6: 87 Sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the united nations human rights system ANNEX 7: 114 HIV, human rights and sexual orientation and gender identity ANNEX 8: 127 Key concepts and terms 22 / /112 132 Final report on 2018 joint thematic dialogue on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex related issues between the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and United Nations human rights mechanisms Context and introduction On 26-28 March 2018, a second thematic dialogue
    [Show full text]
  • PRO Intersex Resource
    SUPPORTING YOUR INTERSEX CHILD Acknowledgements The work to create this resource was largely done on the traditional land of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit River. This land is part of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquios Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We acknowledge that we are still impacted by the effects of colonization. Those impacts are seen through the way we understand gender, sex and bodies in the context of this work. This resource was produced by: Egale Canada Human Rights Trust Founded in 1995, Egale Canada Human Rights Trust (Egale) is the only national LGBTQI2S organization. Egale works to improve the lives of LGBTQI2S people in Canada and to enhance the global response to LGBTQI2S issues by informing public policy, inspiring cultural change, and promoting human rights and inclusion through research, education, and community engagement. Egale’s vision is a Canada, and ultimately a world without homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and all other forms of oppression so that ever person can achieve their full potential, free from hatred and bias. This resource was put together with the consultation and gracious contributions of community members without whom, the making of this would not be possible. This work used funding from the Parents Reaching Out grant, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education. (416) 964-7887 Egale Canada Human Rights Trust 185 Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 2K7 July, 2019 Contents Introduction 4 Navigating the healthcare system 6 Remember your rights! 8 Navigating conversations with your child 10 Navigating conversations with your family 11 Navigating the school system 12 Components of identity 13 Resources 15 Introduction There is a history of trauma and stigma in relation to intersex variations that stems from coercive, non-consensual surgical and pharmaceutical interventions.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Identity Minorities and Workplace Legislation in Europe
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Sidiropoulou, Katerina Working Paper Gender Identity Minorities and workplace legislation in Europe GLO Discussion Paper, No. 410 Provided in Cooperation with: Global Labor Organization (GLO) Suggested Citation: Sidiropoulou, Katerina (2019) : Gender Identity Minorities and workplace legislation in Europe, GLO Discussion Paper, No. 410, Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/204493 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Gender Identity Minorities and workplace legislation in Europe Dr Katerina Sidiropoulou Anglia Ruskin University, School of Management Cambridge, UK [email protected] Abstract It is a fact that transgender people experience severe discrimination in various forms not only in their everyday lives but also in their working lives, especially when transitioning.
    [Show full text]
  • Trans and Gender Variant Citizenships and the State in Norway
    University of Huddersfield Repository Monro, Surya and Van der Ros, Janneke Trans* and gender variant citizenship and the state in Norway Original Citation Monro, Surya and Van der Ros, Janneke (2017) Trans* and gender variant citizenship and the state in Norway. Critical Social Policy. ISSN 0261-0183 This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/33194/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Trans and Gender Variant Citizenships and the State in Norway Surya Monro, University of Huddersfield, England Janneke Van der Ros, University College of Lillehammer, Norway Abstract The last decade has seen the expansion of trans identities that are gender queer, non-binary, androgynous, or multiply-sexed and gendered in Western Europe. These developments mark a shift from a uniformly gender-binaried system to one that encompasses some degree of gender pluralism, as reflected to an extent in policy changes in some European countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights Law Centre Level 17, 461 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000
    Anna Brown & Lee Carnie Human Rights Law Centre Level 17, 461 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000 E: [email protected] W: www.hrlc.org.au The Human Rights Law Centre uses a strategic combination of legal action, advocacy, research, education and UN engagement to protect and promote human rights in Australia and in Australian activities overseas. https://twitter.com/rightsagenda www.facebook.com/HumanRightsLawCentreHRLC/ | 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 2 3. REASONS FOR REFORM 4 4. NORTHERN TERRITORY CONTEXT 5 4.1 Overview of current process 5 4.2 Case study: Rosalina’s story 6 5. CROSS-JURISDICTIONAL COMPARISON 6 5.1 Federal discrimination protections and guidelines 6 5.2 State and territory birth certificate laws 7 5.3 International human rights principles 8 5.4 International jurisdictions 11 6. AMENDING LAWS TO REFLECT THE NEW DEFINITION OF ‘MARRIAGE’ 11 7. INCREASING COMPLIANCE WITH THE SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1984 (CTH) 12 7.1 Conflation of sex, gender and gender identity 12 7.2 Surgery requirement 13 7.3 Access for minors 14 7.4 Additional gender categories 16 7.5 Clinical treatment and medical evidence requirements 18 8. OTHER ISSUES 19 8.1 Removal of sex category from all birth certificates 19 8.2 Distinct issues facing intersex people 20 8.3 Discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sex characteristics 21 8.4 Public education and awareness 22 8.5 Rights to privacy 22 8.6 Application costs and financial hardship 23 9. CONCLUSION 23 APPENDIX 1: COMPARISON OF AUSTRALIAN STATES AND TERRITORIES 24 APPENDIX 2: COMPARISON OF RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL JURISDICTIONS 25 | We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory’s Social Policy Scrutiny Committee (Committee) on the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 (the Bill).
    [Show full text]