Human Rights-Based Intersex Healthcare: Using Hospital Data to Quantify Genital and Reproductive Surgery on Children in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Medical intervention in the context of variations in sex characteristics (intersex variations) has been addressed by many academic disciplines, including medical research, human rights law, and psychosocial research, but few studies bring these diverse disciplines into substantive dialogue. Recent years have seen an increase in human rights statements about the indefensibility of some surgical interventions carried out on children with variations in sex characteristics. This has prompted attempts in some jurisdictions to move towards human rights-based healthcare for people with intersex variations. Such a move will require better dialogue across legal and health-related disciplines, as well as a clearer overview of which and how many surgical interventions are at issue. The present paper initiates the dialogue across disciplines and quantifies surgical interventions carried out on the sexual and reproductive organs of minors in Aotearoa New Zealand, over a five-year period. We suggest that, for the purpose of monitoring any shift towards human rights-based healthcare, national healthcare data will need to more clearly identify diagnoses and interventions relating to minors with variations in sex characteristics.