This afternoon the bill for the "Comprehensive Protection of Sexual Characteristics" entered the National Chamber of Deputies, authored by the National Deputy Gabriela Estévez with the support of Intersex Justice, Abosex, the Intersex Plurinational Network and the LGTBIQ + League of the Provinces. The project is presented within the framework of the Intersex Visibility Weeks (October 26 - November 8).
Sexual characteristics are the physical components of sex (such as chromosomes, gonads and genitalia, among others); People born with sexual characteristics that vary from the female and male averages (intersex people) are often subjected to body modification procedures without their consent that are not justified by any medical necessity. These procedures, which are carried out during the first years of life, have profoundly negative consequences and have been identified as human rights violations.
The purpose of this project is to guarantee that in Argentine territory no person is subjected, ever again, to human rights violations based on their sexual characteristics.
The main objectives of the project are:
Guarantee the right to bodily and sexual diversity, ensuring that no person is subjected to interventions designed to modify their sexual characteristics if they are not medically necessary and if they are not consented to by the person himself. In this way, the autonomy and bodily integrity of all those people who were born with sexual characteristics that vary from the male or female average are protected, who are routinely subjected to body “normalization” interventions in their childhood.
Guarantee the right to the consignment of the sex of all people, without the need to make any type of modification of sexual characteristics to access the birth certificate and national identity document.
Guarantee the right to information of all people regarding their sexual characteristics, including their medical history.
Guarantee that no person is discriminated against because of their sexual characteristics.
Guarantee that all people, regardless of their sexual characteristics, have access to health care that respects their human rights, including the right to make informed decisions about their own body.
Guarantee the inclusion of sexual characteristics and their variations in the contents of Comprehensive Sexual Education.
Guarantee the right to the truth, both individually and socially. All those people who underwent interventions on their sexual characteristics in their childhood have the right to know the truth about said interventions and the circumstances in which they took place, and to access appropriate forms of rehabilitation and reparation. In the same way, Argentine society has the right to know the long history of human rights violations related to sexual characteristics and to commit to their non-repetition.
“The Human Rights of the intersex community have been historically and systematically violated. This violation begins in early childhood through unnecessary and non-consensual normalizing medical interventions, which carry a series of consequences for their health and well-being throughout their lives. Argentina has been characterized by leading the world in the recognition and protection of the Human Rights of LGBTI people. We did so with equal marriage, being the first country in the region, with the Gender Identity Law, the first in the world to depathologize trans people, and currently with the trans labor inclusion project that is advancing in Congress. This project, developed by intersex organizations themselves, is part of that history of struggle,
“Intersex people have suffered decades of stigma, discrimination and violence; this bill comes to put an end to them. It has been developed in permanent dialogue with our communities and organizations, recognizing ourselves for what we are: subjects with full rights. Its approval will make Argentina the first country in the world to comply with the Yogyakarta Principles and the Yogyakarta Principles + 10 regarding sexual characteristics, it will guarantee national compliance with the positions adopted by the Argentine State at regional and international level. and he will encourage other countries to follow his example, ”said Mauro Cabral Grinspan, an Argentine intersex activist.
The project authored by the National Deputy Gabriela Estévez was accompanied by the signatures of Mónica Macha, Carolina Gaillard, María Rosa Martínez, Carla Carrizo, Paola Vesvessian, Jimena López, Maximiliano Ferraro, Brenda Austin, Mara Brawer, Leonardo Grosso, Florencia Lampreabe, Lucila Masin, Josefina González, Santiago Igon and Gabriela Cerruti.
Contacts:
Gabriela Estévez Press: +54 9 3544 40-5418
Justice Intersex
Mauro Cabral Grinspan: 54 9 11 65806999
Justiciaintersex.prensa@gmail.com