UN calls for an end to forced sterilisation of trans and intersex people
The World Health Organisation has urged for an end to the forced sterilisation of transgender and intersex people around the globe.
The WHO, in conjunction with several subsidiaries of the United Nations, has issued a new statement and report calling for “eliminating forced, coercive, and other involuntary sterilisation”.
It specifically includes against any requirement that transgender people undergo any surgeries that might impact their reproductive ability in order to have their gender identity recognised.
UN Women, UN AIDS, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), all support the report.
It warns: “In some countries, people belonging to certain population groups, including people living with HIV, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, and transgender and intersex persons, continue to be sterilised without their full, free and informed consent.”
The report added: “According to international and regional human rights bodies and some constitutional courts, and as reflected in recent legal changes in several countries, these sterilisation requirements run counter to respect for bodily integrity, self-determination and human dignity, and can cause and perpetuate discrimination against transgender and intersex persons.”
This is the strongest statement to date by the WHO who still classify transgender people as suffering from “Gender Dysphoria / Gender Identity Disorders.”
