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Which children have rights? The child’s right to bodily integrity and protection gaps for children with intersex traits under international and national laws

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posted on 2024-08-02, 15:21 authored by Debra L DeLaet, Brian D Earp, Elizabeth MillsElizabeth Mills

This article examines protection gaps for children with intersex traits under international and national laws governing non-voluntary medicalized interventions into sexual anatomy. Various United Nations (UN) bodies, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, human rights treaty-monitoring bodies and the Human Rights Council, have called for full acknowledgment and substantive protection of the rights of children with intersex variations—as with all children—to bodily integrity and (future) bodily autonomy in relation to their own sexed embodiment. However, these global norms generally have not been codified under international law, and most countries have not passed adequate, or any, legislation to secure these rights. We review relevant global norms, international human rights treaties and legislative developments in a range of countries to illustrate potential pathways for closing legal gaps in the protection of all children’s rights to bodily integrity and (future) bodily and sexual autonomy. Keywords: bodily integrity; children’s rights; gender binary; non-voluntary medical interventions; human rights; intersex.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Amicus Curiae

ISSN

1461-2097

Publisher

School of Advanced Study

Issue

3

Volume

5

Page range

448-473

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Institution

University of Sussex

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes