Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions 4.3.6. Recommendations from treaty bodies Concerns about human rights violations against intersex people have emerged from a growing number of UN treaty monitoring bodies – including the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Committee Against Torture, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – and from Special Rapporteurs. Their recommendations focus predominantly on unnecessary medical or surgical treatment on intersex children, including the lifelong repercussions of such practices. They have urged States to: • ensure that no-one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood299 • guarantee bodily integrity, autonomy and/or self-determination to intersex children300 • ensure that intersex people’s personal integrity and sexual and reproductive health rights are respected301 • ensure full, free and informed consent to medical and surgical treatment of intersex people, including by properly informing patients and their parents of the consequences of unnecessary surgical and other medical interventions for intersex people302 • ‘repeal laws that allow intrusive and irreversible treatments of … intersex persons, including … genital-normalizing surgeries … whenever they are enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned’303 • ‘expedite the development and implementation of a rights-based health care protocol for intersex children, setting the procedures and steps to be followed by health teams’304 • provide families with intersex children with adequate counselling and support305 • investigate incidents of surgical and other medical treatment of intersex people, undertaken without effective consent306 76 299 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Switzerland, 2015, CRC/C/CHE/CO/2-4; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Chile, 2015, CRC/C/CHL/CO/4-5, paras. 48-49; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Ireland, 2016, CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, para. 40; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: France, 2016, CRC/C/FRA/CO/5, para. 48; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Austria, 2016, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 45; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Denmark, 2016, ,CAT/C/DNK/CO/6-7, para. 43; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China Hong Kong, 2016, ,CAT/C/CHN-HKG/CO/5, para. 29. 300 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Switzerland, 2015, CRC/C/CHE/CO/2-4; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Chile, 2015, CRC/C/CHL/CO/4-5, para. 49; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Ireland, 2016, CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, para. 40; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Austria, 2016, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 45; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China Hong Kong, 2016, CAT/C/ CHN-HKG/CO/5, para. 29; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China, 2016, CAT/C/CHN/CO/5, para. 56. 301 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations: Germany, 2011, E/C.12/DEU/CO/5, para. 20. 302 Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Germany, 2011, CAT/C/DEU/CO/5; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Ireland, 2016, CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, para. 40; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Austria, 2016, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 45; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Denmark, 2016, CAT/C/DNK/ CO/6-7, para. 43. 303 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 2016, A/HRC/31/57, para. 72(i). 304 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Chile, 2015, CRC/C/CHL/CO/4-5, para. 49; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: France, 2016, CRC/C/FRA/CO/5, para. 48. 305 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Switzerland, 2015, CRC/C/CHE/CO/2-4; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Chile, 2015, CRC/C/CHL/CO/4-5, para. 49; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Ireland, 2016, ,CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, para. 40; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Austria, 2016, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 45; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Denmark, 2016, CAT/C/DNK/CO/6-7, para. 43; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China Hong Kong, 2016, CAT/C/CHN-HKG/CO/5, para. 29. 306 Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Germany, 2011, CAT/C/DEU/CO/5; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Ireland, 2016, CRC/C/IRL/CO/3-4, para. 40; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: Austria, 2016, CAT/C/AUT/CO/6, para. 45; Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations: China, 2016, CAT/C/CHN/ CO/5, para. 56.