Alarming levels of violence targeting individuals identified as intersex within the European Union, according to a human rights agency's report.
The European Union's rights agency, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), has published a report detailing the experiences of intersex people in EU and Western Balkan countries. The report reveals alarming levels of exclusion, discrimination, and violence faced by intersex individuals. According to the report, intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics that do not fit the typical definition of female or male. Despite this, no specific political parties in EU countries were named in the search results as maintaining explicitly negative attitudes towards intersex people in 2023. However, nearly 70% of intersex respondents attributed the increase in violence and discrimination partly to negative stances and discourse by politicians and political parties in general. One concerning finding from the survey is that over two out of three respondents, or 69 percent, reported undergoing surgery or medical treatment to modify their sex characteristics without their informed consent. This practice, often referred to as 'conversion' practices, has been reported by 39% of surveyed intersex people to change their sexual orientation or gender. The report also highlights the high rate of physical or sexual assault faced by intersex people. One in three intersex people reported having been physically or sexually assaulted in the five years before the survey, a sharp increase from the last survey in 2019. The rate of physical or sexual assault for intersex people is three times higher than the rate for LGBTIQ people overall. FRA stated that intense online hatred campaigns through social platforms and in the public sphere spread disinformation and fuel hatred and violence against intersex people. In some EU countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary, no possible pathway to legal gender recognition is provided. The FRA also noted that the LGBTIQ community is being instrumentalized in a climate of increasing or persisting intolerance and bigotry. The agency's director, Sirpa Rautio, emphasized the urgent need for action to address the issues faced by intersex people and to promote their rights and well-being. The report serves as a call to action for policymakers, civil society, and the public to work together to end the discrimination, violence, and exclusion faced by intersex people in the EU and Western Balkan countries.
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