At the intersection of human rights, medical ethics, and bodily autonomy stands Mauro Cabral Grinspan - a historian, activist, and intersex advocate whose work has reshaped global conversations on gender, health, and justice. At the recent 2025 World Association for Sexual Health Congress in Brisbane, Mauro coordinated and chaired an Intersex, Sexual Health and Human Rights Symposium.
IHRA is delighted to announce the appointment of Mauro Cabral Grinspan as Principal Consultant, and coordinator for a new international project aimed at dismantling human rights violations in medical settings on people with innate variations of sex characteristics.
On 2 December, WPATH issued a call for public comment on draft chapters for the Standards of Care for the treatment of transgender and gender diverse people, seeking feedback by 16 December. It includes a chapter on intersex. This is our submission in response.
Declaración conjunta sobre la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades 11 / Совместное заявление о Международной классификации болезней 11 / Déclaration commune sur la Classification Internationale des Maladies 11 / 關於針對國際疾病分類第11版(ICD-11)的聯合聲明 / 关于针对国际疾病分类第11版(ICD-11)的联合声明
More than 50 intersex-led organisations and groups from every region of the world have signed a joint statement to the World Health Organization condemning the repathologisation of intersex variations as “disorders of sex development” in the WHO International Classification of Diseases 11.
This open access paper published by Harvard's Health and Human Rights Journal highlights how international clinical classifications facilitate or specify practices that violate the human rights of intersex people. It also provides some analysis of a recent Family Court case, analysed from a slightly different perspective to recent papers in Bioethical Inquiry.
Clinicians are increasingly raising their voices in opposition to forced and coercive interventions, including Physicians for Human Rights and the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association. More action is needed - particularly in Australia.
Mauro Cabral of GATE has announced, via the Intersex Day project, publication of a 2014 community submission to the World Health Organization on reform of the International Classification of Diseases.
OII Australia recently wrote to ANZPATH (Australian and New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health) regarding a position taken by that organisation suggesting intersex was part of its remit, and part of their description of transgender.
UPDATE: OII Australia and OII Aotearoa have released a submission on the DSM-5, which can be read here [PDF] in
28 Jun 2011
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