A new association, IntersexBEL, was launched today in Brussels to defend the rights of intersex people in Belgium.
The group was created on Intersex Day of Visibility and aims to represent people born with sex characteristics that do not fit conventional definitions of male or female.
The association is calling for effective legal protection against non-urgent, non-consensual surgical procedures, hormone treatments and other medical acts. Among its demands, which it said are “neither new nor marginal,” is an end to non-consensual mutilation and medical interventions.
IntersexBEL said that while intersex people may differ in sexual anatomy, reproductive organs, hormone function or chromosomal patterns, “our bodies are not problems to be solved, and our rights must be respected,” the organisation said.
“The intersex experience cannot be reduced to a physical variation: it is also shaped by social and medical norms that seek to force bodies into strictly male or female categories,” the association states.
It said the current system continues to favour conformity with binary norms at the expense of physical integrity, autonomy and self-determination.
Based in Brussels, the association said it wants not only to advance the intersex movement's demands, but also to provide a space for intersex people in Belgium to meet, build solidarity and mobilise.
IntersexBEL also wants past medical violence to be recognised and the right to redress to be guaranteed.
The organisation called for an end to intersex variations being treated as a medical or psychiatric disorder. They also want to see medical practices reformed, and for intersex organisations to be given the means and a role in decision-making.
“It is time for Belgium to take responsibility and turn these principles into concrete measures,” IntersexBEL said, urging the authorities to translate its demands into legislation.
