Theme: Communication
Held on 20th-21st of March, 2017
Local Host: VIMÖ/OII Austria
On the 30th – 31st of March 2017 in Vienna, Austria the first ever OII Europe Community Event and Public Conference took place.
28 Intersex people from 16 European countries, some activists and some not, came together during the Community Event (30.-31.3.) to share their experiences, and talked about how to make intersex people’s lives safer in Europe. The program included training on public speaking and communications training, as well as creativity sessions. Some participants were attending an event of this nature for the first time in their lives, and empowered them to speak up about the issues.
During the Community Event the participants came together to share their experiences, and their varied objectives and strategies for the full implementation of human rights, bodily integrity, self determination and societal acceptance of intersex people within Europe.
As a result of this event, the Vienna Statement was created:
The Public Conference took place in the Vienna City Hall (1.4.). Its aim was to inform the broader public about intersex issues in Austria and in Europe. The participants of the Community Event also participated in the Public Conference, either by giving expertise as panelist or by holding workshops or by speaking up during Q&As.
This is what participants said afterwards about the event:
”It ended too quickly!“
”I actually didn’t expect so much time being dedicated to tips on public speaking, but now I am very excited to try them all out, and I think they would be very useful!“
”The more of us, stronger we are“
”The feeling of a whole community of such amazing intersex people standing by me I felt at this community event is very empowering, now I feel very inspired for my future activism.“
”The demands session and the workshop was the best thing of the year for me“
”A great week, feeling safe, knowing you won’t be judged on your appearance nor behaviour (unlike what happens in society where you have at times to be careful how you ‘act’). Empowering, moving, joyful. Too short.“
