Iranti’s Crystal Hendricks has called on President Ramaphosa and Parliament to protect South African children from intersex genital mutilation Greece has become the 5th country in the world to ban intersex genital mutilation, a move that activists say South Africa should urgently emulate. On Tuesday, the Greek Parliament voted in favour of the “Medically Assisted Reproduction Reforms Act”.
The legislation bans medical interventions (including hormonal treatments and surgeries) that aim to partially or totally change the sex characteristics of intersex children, unless urgently needed for health reasons.
The practice, known as Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM), is used by doctors to make the sex characteristics of intersex children, including babies, fit the binary of male or female anatomy.
Under the new law, medical interventions, including corrective surgeries or hormonal therapies, to change facial or body characteristics of intersex people over the age of 15 years will only be permitted if they give informed consent.
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