OII Europe Flyer

WHAT ARE OII EUROPE’S GOALS?

OII Europe works on the grounds of the Malta Declaration, formulated at the 3rd International Intersex Forum 2013 for

• full implementation of human rights, bodily integrity & self-determination for intersex people
• legal prohibition of non-consensual medical & psychological treatment; medical practitioners or other professionals should not conduct any treatment to the purpose of modifying sex characteristics which can be deferred until the person to be treated can provide informed consent
• promotion of self-awareness, visibility and recognition of intersex people
• full protection against discrimination & the adoption of “sex characteristics” as a protective ground
• education of society on intersex issues from a human rights perspective

WHO ARE INTERSEX PEOPLE?

Intersex is an umbrella term for the experience of being born with a body that does not meet the societal expectation of male or female bodies. Our sex characteristics and bodies are healthy variations of the human sexes.

Innate variations of sex characteristics can be manyfold: inner and/or outer genitalia, chromosomes and/or the hormonal structure may not match societal and medical expectations, as may other sex characteristics like muscle mass, hair distribution or stature, to name but a few.

WHAT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES DO INTERSEX PEOPLE FACE?

• pathologisation of their bodies
• medical interventions without personal, prior, persistent & fully informed consent
• violation of their physical integrity
• psychological trauma
• invisibilisation
• stigma
• structural & verbal discrimination
• harrassment
• lack of access to relevant or / and needed medication
• lack of legal recognition