Human rights violations in normalizing procedures on intersex children

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Human Rights Law
• Intersex Studies

Background:

• Brazilian intersex children face "normalizing" surgeries to conform to binary sex standards.
• Resolution n. 1,664/2003 legitimizes medical interventions on intersex bodies, lacking human rights considerations.
• International intersex activism denounces early sex designation surgeries as mutilation and human rights violations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze early, irreversible, and normalizing procedures on intersex individuals as human rights violations.
• To examine the evidence base for medical practices and their ethical implications.
• To propose a framework prioritizing intersex autonomy and prohibiting non-consensual interventions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of Resolution n. 1,664/2003 and its alignment with human rights principles.
• Application of epistemic (in)justice concepts to medical evidence and practices.
• Review of international intersex activism demands and legal challenges.

Main Results:

• Normalizing surgeries violate intersex individuals' rights to health, bodily integrity, autonomy, and sexual/reproductive health.
• Current medical practices lack sufficient evidence and ethical grounding, perpetuating harm.
• Existing regulatory frameworks fail to protect intersex children's rights.

Conclusions:

• Intersex individuals must be central to decisions concerning their bodies.
• Non-surgical and patient-centered approaches should be prioritized.
• Early, invasive, and non-consensual surgeries on intersex children must be prohibited, necessitating regulatory reform.