56. The Abortion Supervisory Committee has stated the law does not reflect the health sector currently nor modern society.57 STERILISATION 57. The consent of an intellectually disabled girl under the age of 18 is not required before sterilisation can be performed. The Care of Children Act 2004 provides that a minor’s guardians together with the appropriate medical professionals have the authority to decide which medical treatments they will receive and the High Court has observed that court authorisation in a case of sterilisation is not required.58 58. This is in stark contrast to similar jurisdictions, such as Australia, where a court order is required. The Commission is unaware of any Government work programme to review or amend the current framework. GENITAL-NORMALISING TREATMENT 59. Genital-normalising treating, involving both surgery and hormone therapy, occurs in New Zealand. Concerns have been raised that it is often medically unnecessary, not always consistent with the person’s gender identity, can pose risks for sexual and reproductive health and is often performed without free and fully informed consent. 60. Section 240A of the Crimes Act 1961 criminalises surgery on the female genitalia of any person, in certain limited circumstances. However, despite international developments for the prohibition of surgical genital normalising interventions until children are able to make their own full and informed decisions, this issue has not been directly addressed by the New Zealand Government. 61. The Commission has worked alongside its project partners, the Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand, Tiwhanawhana Trust and the Otago Medical School Wellington to understand and address New Zealand’s current practice of genital normalization on intersex children. Continued external engagement, including with the Ministry of Health and members of the medical profession, and a second national roundtable has resulted in agreement to establish a New Zealand Child and Youth Intersex Clinical Network under the auspices of the Pediatric Society of New Zealand and funded by the Ministry of Health. 62. In 2016 New Zealand was reviewed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee included the following in its concluding observations:59 ➢ [Strengthen] its measures to combat negative attitudes among the public and other preventive activities against discrimination and, if necessary, taking affirmative action for the benefit of children in vulnerable situations, such as Māori and Pasifika children, 57 https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/asc-annual-report-2016.pdf 58 Re X [1991] 2 NZLR 365 (HC) http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fNZL%2fCO %2f5&Lang=en 59 12