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CHILDREN BORN WITH sex characteristics that don’t fit the norm are at risk of a range of “unnecessary, invasive and traumatising medical procedures” a new report from Amnesty International says.
Using case studies in Denmark and Germany, First, Do No Harm shows how non-emergency, invasive and irreversible surgical interventions are being used on children who are intersex – the term commonly used for individuals with variations of sex characteristics such as chromosomes, genitals and reproductive organs.
It is estimated that up to 1.7% of the global population have variations of sex characteristics – making it as common as people with red hair.
The Amnesty report says that non-emergency medical procedures, typically performed on infants and children under the age of 10, are being carried out in Denmark and Germany despite the lack of medical research to support the need for surgical intervention.
Laura Carter, researcher on sexual orientation and gender identity at Amnesty International says the procedures can have life-long implications.
“We’re talking about incisions being made to sensitive tissue, with life-long consequences, all because of stereotypes about what a boy or girl should look like. The question is whose benefit is this for, because our research shows it has been an incredibly harrowing experience for individuals.”
Amnesty International found evidence that children born with variations in their sex characteristics underwent procedures such as:
According to Amnesty International, the current approach to the treatment of intersex children across Denmark and Germany fails to protect the human rights of children, including the right to a private life and right to the highest attainable standard of health.
The practice of normalisation has been condemned by both the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), a decentralised EU agency that focuses on the basic rights of those living in the EU and the Council of Europe.
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This is corrective surgery on children who are hermaphroditic. Amnesty International furthering their laughing stock of a reputation.
@George Roche: And as usual you show your ignorance on the subject by using slur words
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: What are you on about? Don’t tell me you’re going to give a biology lesson haha.
I’m very curious about the other side of this. What are the the issues they face when they are older, without the surgery? I imagine quite a lot of bullying, mental health problems, and fear of revealing their body.
I’m just curious about seeing both sides of the issue.
These surgeries should only be carried out once they grow up, if and when they choose them.
@Ariana: They are easier to perform as a child and leave less deformity of the area if any deformity is left at all. This is another trans LGBT nonsense pushed campaign to suggest gender is unimportant and our biological bits don’t define us agenda they constantly spew out!!
@LogicalSarah: It has nothing to do with trans or LGBT issues at all. What about the babies that these procedures are performed on who grow up with scarred and non-functional genitalia? What of the adults who have had this performed on them as babies and have never been informed of it and find out only when they go to a doctor to see why they cannot conceive a child? What of the girls who at 13 have their voices drop and grow facial hair because the doctor made a snap decision when they were born?
@Alice Lee: No one seems to give a shyte about the systemic male genital mutilation (circumcision) that occurs the world over, speaking of people who grow up to have scarred genitalia with reduced function.
The only reason this is coming up is because someone did a “Gender Studies” degree and is scared to admit it was a waste of everyone’s time and money.
I find it hard to believe it’s as black and white as the ‘ugly-vag’ theory outlined above.
Well this asks the question who wants the surgery done ? It’s usually parents pushing for them and it’s usually on medical advice. There is the option of leaving surgery until the child is older but there is the possibility that the child will be very aware of their differences. I know there used to be a process where a sex was chosen for an intersex child often based on what could be constructed physically . Of course it meant males brought up as females and females as males. Chromosomal testing helps identify the gender now. Perhaps it’s not the surgeries but the lack of psychological support following them. Many children have to go through many surgeries for different conditions on their childhood. Some are lifesaving and some are to correct abnormalities and give a better quality of life for adulthood. I think it boils down to what is deemed necessary and vital and ultimately it’s parents who give the go ahead in an effort to do what they see as the best thing for their child. I’m not sure amnesty gets a say in that.
Bleeding weirdos. Poor kidos.
Don’t get this thing about young children asking their parents for gender realignment operations, how did they ever hear about such a thing? Germaine Greer had an interesting point when she said men and women are made up of similar hormones so you can’t be 100% male or female, we usually just pronate towards male or female therefore cutting off organs for appearance sake does not make you a different sex.
@Permo Dermo: Did you even read the article? This is about babies being born with ambiguous genitalia and doctors and parents performing surgeries on children against their will.
@Alice Lee: mine comment was related to the general subject matter. I know three kids that have asked their parents when they could have their “operation” – 2 boys and 1 girl.
If the parents had known they were going to have an intersex child Amnesty would have probably encouraged abortion. They certainly would not have disapproved.
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