Intersex people in South Africa: NGOs call for an end to “mutilation” at birth
Audio 02:22
Almost 1.7% of the world's population, or one in 2,000 births, is intersex.
© Pixabay / Geralt
By: Claire Bargelès Follow
3 min
Intersex communities in the country have for years called on the government to ban what they denounce as "
mutilation
" at birth.
Intersex children are born with sexual characteristics that do not match male or female norms, and parents can sometimes choose, without their consent, to assign them a gender, through surgical procedures.
In an organized dialogue with representatives of the South African government, civil society organizations once again called for changes in the law so that their rights are respected.
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From our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Like nearly 1.7% of the world's population, or one in 2,000 births, Dimakatso Sebidi is intersex. And at birth, choices about her body were made for her: “
I am intersex, and I was born with both sexes of genitals. The doctors had, at the time, a discussion with my parents, to explain to them that their child was born with a penis and a vagina, and to ask them their expectations. My parents said they wanted a girl. This is how operations started for me. I went back and forth to the hospital for the first six years of my life. They said it was to "fix me".
"
Dimakatso defines himself today as non-binary, and feels neither woman nor man.
But these surgeries imposed a woman's body on him: “
This breast is not mine, it was created by hormones and the treatments that I had to follow.
I wish I had never had all of these operations.
Doctors and my parents had no rights.
And it has deteriorated my health
: I have to be in treatment for the rest of my life.
It also plunged me into depression, stress, suicidal thoughts.
I was born like this, I didn't need to be "fixed"!
Being intersex is my norm.
"
Without consent, a violation of human rights
The UN recognizes that such operations are human rights violations if the person concerned has not given their consent. Crystal Hendricks, president of the Association of Intersex South Africa (Intersex South Africa), also calls for everyone to be free to make their own decisions: “
I hope that one day children who are born intersex will be seen as normal, and will be able to live a normal life until an age when they can decide whether they want to change their body. But all this must remain their decision.
"
For Anastacia Tomson, doctor and activist, awareness-raising work must also be undertaken with the country's medical staff: “
Many caregivers in South Africa have been conditioned to think that the birth of an intersex child represents a medical emergency.
And in different hospitals and clinics, doctors can sometimes push the parents to consent, on behalf of the child, to perform irreversible operations, which can affect his health and fertility.
"
Representatives of the South African government have said they have heard these demands, and now want to work on how to best protect the rights of intersex people.
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South Africa
Social issues
Health and medicine
Rights of the child
Society
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