2023 — نشر كتيب "هل أنت فتى أم فتاة؟ النشأة كشخص أفريقي ثنائي الجنس" ، أوغندا
“Are you a Boy or a Girl? Growing up as an African Intersex Person” is a powerful booklet published by Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD) Uganda to commemorate Intersex Awareness Day 2023. It brings together the lived experiences of eight intersex individuals from across Africa, offering a deeply human perspective on identity, resilience and belonging. The booklet demonstrates how the neatly drawn boxes of male or female on documents are presumptuous and extremely limit the diversity of sex characteristics in humanity. It explains that intersex people are born with natural variations in their sex characteristics which may not fit the typical definitions of male or female bodies.
Through these intensely personal stories, the book highlights the realities of intersex people in Africa. Their experiences range from childhood confusion to secrecy, stigma, discrimination and harmful medical practices. Many of the stories show that understanding of who you are as an intersex person usually comes late, often after years of uncertainty. Family can be both a safe space and source of trauma. School (especially boarding school) is a major site of stigma and exposure through the bullying and lack of privacy. The tellers go on to describe difficult experiences with in their communities where misunderstanding often leads to isolation or abuse. (Cultural interpretations profoundly shape experiences).
Despite these challenges, the central message of the booklet is strength and hope. The individuals featured show remarkable resilience as they learn to accept themselves, support others and advocate for their rights. Their journeys emphasise the importance of self-love, informed decision making and the need for society to become more inclusive and informed.
Ultimately, “Are you a Boy or a Girl?” goes beyond sharing personal stories, it is a call to action. It urges readers to listen, learn and respect intersex people while promoting a broader understanding of human diversity. The booklet reminds us that everyone deserves the right exist without apology.
From the introduction to the booklet:
“An Intersex person is someone born with a reproductive or sexual
anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of female or female
including hormonal patterns, and/or chromosome patterns. It reflects a
combination of differences in the development of a person’s internal
or/and external sexual and reproductive organs. In some cases, an
intersex person’s genitalia will be neither clearly male nor female.
Some conditions may only become apparent when a child reaches
puberty. According to the UN 0.05% and 1.7% of the population is
born with intersex traits.
In recent years, awareness of intersex people and recognition of the
specific human rights abuses that they face has grown thanks to the
work of intersex human rights defenders, all over the world. Human
Rights abuses commonly faced by Intersex people include infanticides,
forced and coerced medical interventions, harmful practices, such as
unsupervised cultural genital mutilations and spiritual exorcisms
rampant in many parts of Africa, and other forms of stigmatization due
to their physical traits.This book documents the lived experiences of 8 amazing intersex
individuals from different African countries including Uganda, Kenya,
Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Nigeria who share their stories with the
hope that their experiences will be largely disseminated and therefore
deepen Africa’s understanding of intersex lives.
The book is designed in such a way that participants talk about their
experiences in school, society, work, and health service centers. Stories
were transcribed to compose stories that were as close to the story
tellers’ own words as possible. These stories represent a wide range of
experiences which we believe are representative of other intersex lived
realities in Africa.
In commemoration of intersex awareness day 2023, SIPD is excited to
document and share the following powerful intersex lived experiences
across Africa to celebrate courage and hope and to create more
awareness and visibility.”