24—26 November 2017 — The Birth of the African Intersex Movement (AIM), South Africa

Between the 24th and 26th November 2017, the First African Intersex Meeting took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. This meeting brought together 22 intersex people representing intersex organisations from 7 African countries. It was during this meeting that the African Intersex Movement started organising and they released the following statement:

Preamble

We recall the principles of the Public Statement by the Third International Intersex Forum (known as the Malta Declaration) and extend the demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people in Africa, to ensure the right of bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination.

We affirm that intersex people are real, and we exist in all countries of Africa. As intersex people in Africa, we live in a society that perpetuates violence and killings of intersex people by cultural, religious, traditional and medical beliefs and practices. Therefore, we must be supported to be the drivers of social, political and legislative changes that concern us.

Demands

• To put an end to infanticide and killings of intersex people led by traditional and religious beliefs.
• To put an end to mutilating and ‘normalising’ practices such as genital surgeries, psychological and other medical treatments through legislative and other means (such as education, policy and treatment protocol change). Intersex people must be empowered to make their own decisions affecting their own bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination.
• To include intersex education in antenatal counselling and support.
• To put an end to non-consensual sterilisation of intersex people.
• To depathologise variations in sex characteristics in medical practices, guidelines, protocols and classifications, such as the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases.
• To ensure that sex or gender classifications are amendable through a simple administrative procedure at the request of the individuals concerned. All adults and capable minors should be able to choose between female (F), male (M), intersex or multiple options. In the future, sex or gender should not be a category on birth certificates or identification documents for anybody.
• To raise awareness around intersex issues and the rights of intersex people in communities and society at large.
• To create and facilitate supportive, safe and celebratory environments for intersex people, their families and surroundings.
• To ensure that intersex people have the right to full information and access to their own medical records and history.
• To ensure that all professionals and healthcare providers that have a specific role to play in intersex people’s well-being are adequately trained to provide quality services.
• To acknowledge the suffering and injustice caused to intersex people
• To build intersex anti-discrimination legislation in addition to other grounds, and to ensure protection against intersectional discrimination.
• To ensure the provision of all human rights and citizenship rights to intersex people, including the right to marry and form a family.
• To ensure that intersex people are able to participate in competitive sport, at all levels, in accordance with their legal sex. Intersex athletes who have been humiliated or stripped of their titles should receive reparation and reinstatement.
• To recognise that medicalization and stigmatisation of intersex people result in significant trauma and mental health concerns.
• In view of ensuring the bodily integrity and well-being of intersex people, autonomous non-pathologising psycho-social and peer support be available to intersex people throughout their life (as self-required), as well as to parents and/or care providers.

In view of the above the African Intersex Movement calls on:

1. National governments to address the concerns raised by the African Intersex Movement and draw adequate solutions in direct collaboration with intersex representatives and organisations.
2. Traditional and religious leaders to stop harmful cultural practices, such as tradition-led mutilations and killings of intersex people.
3. National, regional and international human rights institutions to take on board, and provide visibility to intersex issues in their work.
4. Community leaders to engage in intersex education to dispel misconceptions and stigma around intersex people.
5. Human rights organisations to contribute to build bridges with intersex organisations and build a basis for mutual support and meaningful engagement. This should be done in a spirit of collaboration and no-one should instrumentalise intersex issues as a means for other ends.
6. Funders to engage with intersex organisations and support them in the struggle for visibility, increase their capacity, the building of knowledge and the affirmation of their human rights.

Source: https://intersexday.org/en/statement-african-forum-2017/

The main theme of the 2019 convention was the recognition of intersex rights as human rights. Participants reaffirmed the principles enshrined in both the International and regional human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Yogyakarta Principles and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which affirm the right of intersex individuals to self-determination, bodily autonomy and non-discrimination. They also spoke about countries like Malta, Australia and Portugal, which have taken steps to legally protect intersex persons, as well as examining why Africa as a region and the different state parties have little or very close to no interest in legislating to protect their own intersex communities from the severe violations and abuses as reported by the activists.

2019 Convention, Naivasha, Kenya

In 2019, a historic moment unfolded as 21 African Intersex human rights defenders from across the African continent convened in Kenya under the theme “visibility…. Voice…. Freedom”, from the 19^th to the 21^st of June to cement the work of the African Intersex Movement (AIM). The landmark initiative aimed at sharing information, skills and resources while advancing the rights and visibility of intersex individuals across Africa. The convention made a pivotal step forward by the African region collectively addressing unique challenges faced by the intersex community in the region and amplifying their voices on the global stage. The 2019 Statement, an outcome of the conference held in Naivasha, Kenya in 2019,  is a public statement to extend demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people while ensuring their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination. This statement announced the launch of the African Intersex Movement offering themselves as the African intersex reference of intelligence for stakeholders and allies who are interested in strengthening the ongoing liberation work for intersex people’s rights and autonomy.  The statement demands a wide range of rights including legal recognition, access to healthcare, employment, education and sport, marriage, bodily autonomy, information, especially to medical records and surroundings, inclusion and, mainly, the right to life. It also calls upon community leaders, human rights organisations and resource partners to support the African intersex people.

Key to the convention’s success was the active participation and leadership of the pioneers of intersex activism in Africa whose first-hand experiences provided invaluable insights and drove the agenda for change. Their courage in sharing their activism stories of resilience, survival, and self-affirmation served as a powerful catalyst for collective action among attendees.

Hosted in a spirit of solidarity and association, the formation of AIM brought together IHRDs and allies from across Africa including Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The convention created a platform to allow individual connections with fellow intersex activists in ways that fostered movement wellness, built trust and affirmed a collective vision for the change desired for the African intersex community. Activists shared their experiences, discussed common struggles, identified specific regional needs and structured a united front in advocating for dignity, equality and recognition for intersex persons. The formation of the African Intersex Movement was a critical milestone in the ongoing struggle intersex rights and recognition. The movement stands as a testament to the power of collective action. Recognising the need to promote unity, solidarity and cooperation among African nations was the first step towards wider visibility and long-term impact. The movement has grown to have an impressive coverage of all the African regions and as it continues to gain momentum and evolve. Its members remain steadfast in their commitment to challenging oppression, fostering solidarity, and creating a world where all intersex persons can live authentically and without fear.

Throughout the proceedings, speakers underscored the urgent need to challenge harmful practices such as infanticides, discrimination, non-consensual surgeries and ‘normalising’ interventions now more commonly referred to as Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) imposed on intersex children. These practices, rooted in stigma and ignorance, have long perpetuated violence and trauma against intersex individuals, often resulting in lifelong physical and psychological harm. Some of the widely highlighted challenges directly involved in intersex activism included the absurdly low funding of intersex organising in Africa and how the African governments continue to ignore the intersex communities in their countries, despite clear knowledge about their existence and the severe violations and abuses of the human rights of intersex individuals. Participants concurred that one of the most effective approaches to addressing these issues could be through improving messaging and outreaches, while utilising the National Human Rights Institutions which operate autonomously from the government but possess the capacity to exert influence upon it; a strategy that proved to work for the Kenyan activists. 

The convention also provided a platform for intersex activists to highlight the intersections of intersex identity with other forms of oppression, including child abuse, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, discrimination and marginalisation. This intersectional approach is important to fully address all forms of oppression without dismantling a person’s identity into distinct dimensions that don’t affect one another. Discussions were therefore focused on the importance of building inclusive movements that centre the voices and experiences of intersex people, particularly those from marginalised communities whose oppression and discrimination is an inextricably blended experience. The diverse expressions will serve to challenge the prevailing narratives of shame and secrecy surrounding intersexuality and affirm the inherent dignity and worth of every individual.

The key outcomes of the convention were the election of a starring committee of the African Intersex Movement made up of four members, overseen by Julius Kaggwa and Hlompho Mokoena (formerly known as Nthabiseng) and a statement that was guided by the 2017 Statement from the first African intersex meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The genesis of the establishment of the AIM can be traced back to this meeting where ideas of the necessity were formalised by the participants.

The Movement amplifies intersex voices and affirms to the world that, in all African Countries: WE EXIST. 

Read more about AIM.

This entry was written by our Intersex Content Contributor, Delphine Barigye