Intersex rights in China
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Intersex rights in China including the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, etc., are protections and rights afforded to intersex people through legislation and regulation. Obligations also arise in United Nations member states that sign international human rights treaties, such as the People's Republic of China. Intersex people in China suffer discrimination. Issues include both lack of access to health care and coercive genital surgeries.[1]
History
In February 2018, Asian intersex activists published the Statement of Intersex Asia and the Asian Intersex Forum, setting out local demands.[2]
Physical integrity and bodily autonomy
Small Luk (Hong Kong) describes traditional Chinese society as patriarchal, promoting the sex assignment of intersex children as boys wherever possible.[1] She states that the "one-child policy" in mainland China led to the abandonment, neglect and deaths of many intersex infants. Both Luk[3] and Taiwan activist Hiker Chiu[4] have disclosed personal histories involving unwanted medical interventions. Chiu says that surgical "normalisation" practices began in Taiwan in 1953. Intersex medical interventions are encouraged as early as possible in both Hong Kong and the People's Republic. A 2014 clinical review of 22 infants with congenital adrenal hyperplasia in Hong Kong, for example, shows that all infants in the study received clitorectomies. It also showed a preference for early surgeries when infants are aged 1–2 years, and an assessment of surgical success focusing on genital appearance and necessity for further cosmetic surgeries.[5] The cost of medical interventions in the People's Republic of China makes medical treatment inaccessible, resulting in fewer coercive interventions but exacerbating health issues for some individuals,[6] and issues of abandonment and violence.[1]
Protection from discrimination
Remedies and claims for compensation
The United Nations Committee Against Torture has called for compensation for involuntary and medically unnecessary medical interventions in both the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong.[7][8]
Identification documents
Rights advocacy in Greater China region
The first people to publicly disclose being intersex were Hiker Chiu of Oii-Chinese, based in Taiwan and founded in 2008,[9] and Small Luk of Beyond the Boundary - Knowing and Concerns Intersex, Hong Kong, founded in 2011.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbbkci2015 - ↑ Intersex Asia (February 2018). "Statement of Intersex Asia and Asian intersex forum". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ↑ Yau, Elaine (28 January 2016). "No child should endure my ordeal, says sex-disorder Hongkonger forced to be a boy". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ↑ Allain, Pierre-Henri (1 July 2015). "Sans contrefaçon, je suis fille et garçon". Libération. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ↑ Houben, Ch; Tsui, Sy; Mou, Jw; Chan, Kw; Tam, Yh; Lee, Kh (December 2014). "Reconstructive surgery for females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency: a review from the Prince of Wales Hospital". Hong Kong Medical Journal. 20 (6): 481–485. doi:10.12809/hkmj144227. ISSN 1024-2708. PMID 25045882.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Luk, Small (20 October 2015), "Beyond boundaries: intersex in Hong Kong and China", Intersex Day, Intersex Day, archived from the original on 5 April 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcat2015cn - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcat2015hk - ↑ "Neither here, nor there". Taipei Times. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015.
Bibliography
- Beyond the Boundary - Knowing and Concerns Intersex (October 2015). "Intersex report from Hong Kong China, and for the UN Committee Against Torture: the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment".
- United Nations; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2015). "Free & Equal Campaign Fact Sheet: Intersex" (PDF) (in 中文).
- United Nations; Committee against Torture (2015). "Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of China". Geneva: United Nations.
- United Nations; Committee against Torture (2015). "Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of China with respect to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region". Geneva: United Nations.
