Zwischengeschlecht
Zwischengeschlecht is a human rights advocacy group campaigning on intersex bodily autonomy issues. The group demonstrates outside medical events where surgical interventions are discussed or performed, engages with the media, and participates in consultations with human rights institutions.
Advocacy
Physical integrity and bodily autonomy
Zwischengeschlecht were consulted by the Swiss National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics in the preparation of an Opinion report, On the management of differences of sex development, Ethical issues relating to "intersexuality" in November 2012. The report is notable for making a clear apology for damage done to intersex people in the past, and up until the present. It recommends deferring all "non-trivial" surgeries which have "irreversible consequences". The report also recommended criminal sanction for non-medically necessary genital surgeries.The organization actively campaigns for recognition of intersex medical interventions as forms of "intersex genital mutilation", including through submissions to UN institutions. In March 2017, Zwischengeschlecht reported that the UN had made 22 concluding observations on the performance of UN member states according to their international treaty obligations. This included 14 countries, across in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.