Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions This manual primarily uses the terms ‘intersex people’ and ‘sex characteristics’, in line with shifts in the terms used by UN bodies. However, terminology is evolving. Not all intersex people may like, know or understand the term ‘intersex’ but there is no other term that has widespread support or acceptance.34 There is no commonly used term to describe dislike of or prejudice against someone because the person is intersex. However, sexist, heteronormative and/or transphobic motives are driving forces behind much of the discrimination against intersex people and the human rights breaches they face. They are used as rationales for surgeries on intersex infants and children, based on the belief that atypical sex characteristics may lead to homosexuality or gender non-conformity.35 Individual intersex people have the right to choose whatever terms they wish to describe what it means to them to have an intersex variation. When NHRIs are discussing human rights issues for intersex people it is important to use accurate terms that do not describe intersex traits in a negative way. An older term that may be more familiar to the general public is the biological term ‘hermaphrodite’. Its specific biological meaning refers to plants and creatures that possess fully functional, fertile, ‘female’ and ‘male’ sex organs. As this combination is not possible for humans, it is inaccurate and can be misleading to use the term ‘hermaphrodite’ to describe people. While some intersex people have reclaimed the word ‘hermaphrodite’, many find it stigmatising.36 The term ‘disorders of sex development’ is commonly used in medical settings but is rejected by the majority of intersex people. Intersex-led organisations have criticised the term as it implies that intersex traits are a ‘disorder’.37 The term ‘intersexual’ may create the mistaken impression that there is an automatic link between someone’s intersex status and traits and their sexual orientation. Similarly, the term ‘intersex identity’ may imply that people choose to identify as having an intersex variation. This underplays the very physical element of intersex variations.38 Assigned or legal sex refers to the sex recorded when a child’s birth is registered. Typically this will be written on hospital records, on a birth certificate or on another form of identification. Usually the sex assigned at birth is also used in social interactions. One of the demands from the 2013 International Intersex Forum was that intersex children should be registered as females or males, with the awareness that, like all people, they may grow up to identify with a different sex or gender.39 14 34 Many misconceptions contribute to a lack of understanding of the term. For example, some people may associate the word with non-binary gender identities. 35 Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Human Rights and Intersex People: an Issue Paper, 2015. 36 M. Carpenter and D. Hough, Employers’ Guide to Intersex Inclusion, 2014, Pride in Diversity and Organisation Intersex International Australia. 37 T. Jones, B. Hart, M. Carpenter, G. Ansara, W. Leonard, and J. Lucke, Intersex: Stories and Statistics from Australia, 2016. This recent research shows only three per cent of intersex people in Australia use the term ‘disorders of sex development’ to describe themselves, although 21 per cent use the term in order to access medical services. 38 Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Human Rights and Intersex People: an Issue Paper, 2015. 39 Third International Intersex Forum, Malta, December 2013; at https://oii.org.au/24241/public-statement-by-the-third-internationalintersex-forum/.This includes a link to a Chinese language version of the statement.