Cultural Awareness of Intersex in Malta

Invisibility, Stigma and Epistemic Injustice

Bibliographic Data

ID5936320
AuthorsClaudia Bartolo Tabone (University of Malta), Fae Garland (0000-0002-6725-7682, University of Manchester, corresponding author), Martin Travis (0000-0001-6245-7354, University of Leeds), Mitchell Travis
Year2024
Volume13
Issue3
Pages150
Publication date2024-03-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci13030150
OpenAlexW4392560862
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited30

In 2015, Malta introduced ground-breaking legal reform designed to protect the bodily integrity of intersex infants in Malta. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals, lawyers, policy-makers and advocates, this article considers the extent to which this reform has improved the cultural visibility and recognition of intersex people in Malta. Engaging with literature on epistemic injustice, this article provides new evidence for a cultural silence around intersex bodies that operates not only at a level of public knowledge but also at the individual and institutional levels. Our findings relate to three categories of visibility: political, cultural and medical. While the political visibility of intersex was an important factor in the introduction and shape of law reform in Malta, our respondents felt that the legislation had had very little effect on public understandings and familiarity with intersex issues. Moreover, respondents felt that many intersex people would be unlikely to know that they were intersex due to the limited conceptual and critical resources available to them: issues such as stigma and shame further encourage the epistemic silencing of intersex issues. The lack of cultural and medical visibility has significantly limited both the intended and hoped-for effect of the legislation. The article considers the broader implications of these results beyond Malta for those seeking to use the law to improve the lived experiences of intersex people

Aesthetics · Environmental ethics · Injustice · Invisibility · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Silence · Sociology · Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Sexual Differentiation and Disorders

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