Intersex
Intersex people have innate sex characteristics that don’t fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies, and that create risks or experiences of stigma, discrimination and harm.1
Intersex people form a diverse population with many different kinds of bodies, sex characteristics, sex assignments, genders, identities, life experiences, and terminology and word preferencess. What they share in common is an experience of having innate sex characteristics (such as chromosomes, gonads or hormones) that differ from medical norms for female or male bodies. Intersex people risk violence, stigmatisation and harmful practices because their bodies are seen as different.2
Being intersex is a naturally occurring variation in humans, and it isn’t a medical problem — therefore, medical interventions (like surgeries or hormone therapy) on children usually aren’t medically necessary.3 Intersex individuals and their allies advocate for their right to make their own choices about their bodies and identities. Intersex individuals may choose to identify as male, female, both, or neither, and should be respected and supported in their choices.
According to experts, between 0.05% and 1.7% of the population is born with intersex traits – the upper estimate is similar to the number of red haired people.4
The IHRA (Intersex Human Rights Australia) states: ‘We have seen estimates range from 1 in 1,500 or 2,000 births to 4%, and we recommend an upper bound figure of 1.7%.’5 There is cause to believe that these higher estimates, sometimes referred to as ‘evidenced upper bounds’, are legitimate; as there is cause to believe that the true number of intersex persons is under-reported due to practical challenges in collecting accurate data.
According to a study in PLoS One, published by the Public Library of Science on October 9th, 2020:
It is challenging to estimate the prevalence of intersex conditions as no existing population studies include questions about intersex diagnoses, experts disagree on what conditions fall under the intersex category, and feelings of shame and stigma may limit disclosure by individuals.6
There are many reasons intersex individuals experience a lack of visibility, support, and representation. One of them is due to a lack of robust anatomical scientific curricula in primary and secondary education. This can lead many to think of human sex as falling into two sharply divided sex characteristics (colloquially referred to as ‘the sex binary’). Modern research instead advocates for a more robust conception of sex as a continuum, rather than a binary.7 The benefits of such research do not simply make our scientific conception of sex more accurate, but they also help intersex individuals advocate for their rights and dignity.