Morgan Carpenter: "Clinical self-regulation has failed"

 
On invitation, Morgan Carpenter has written a blog post for the journal Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters: "Intersex human rights: clinical self-regulation has failed". Here's an extract:

There is neither clinical consensus nor clinical evidence to support current coercive practices [8]. Clinical bodies face multiple challenges in constructing evidence to support these clinical practices. A deliberate historic practice of concealing diagnostic information [9] means that it is likely most intersex people lack information about their bodies that can help them manage their health, let alone make them reachable to clinical researchers. Legacies of poor treatment, trauma and medical display mean that many individuals will not engage with health services that they may actually need [8]. Most damningly, research to ascertain the impact of forced practices reveals human rights violations. In some cases, as in attempts to gauge the post-surgical clitoral sensitivity of children, clinical research practices themselves violate human rights [10].

Read more

Carpenter, Morgan. 2018. ‘Intersex Human Rights: Clinical Self-Regulation Has Failed’. Reproductive Health Matters (RHM) (blog). 26 October 2018. http://www.srhm.org/news/intersex-human-rights-clinical-self-regulation-has-failed/.

Read the related statement by GATE: "Where is the Evidence?"