Constructing the female body
Using female genital mutilation law to address genital-normalizing surgery on intersex children in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6150809 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sylvan Fraser (corresponding author) |
| Editors | Dan Reisel |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 62-72 |
| Publication date | 2016-03-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2056-4902 • E-ISSN: 2056-4910 |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1108/ijhrh-05-2015-0014 |
| OpenAlex | W2333283450 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 25 |
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the harms suffered by intersex children who are subjected to medically unnecessary genital-normalizing surgery (GNS) and the possible applicability of statutes prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM) to certain cases of GNS to redress this harm in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Consulting publications by medical researchers and intersex activists alike, this comment reviews the procedures undertaken as part of GNS (most commonly including clitoral reduction) and the reasons behind these procedures. It also parses the language of federal and state statutes prohibiting FGM in the USA. Findings – Surgical practices that include clitoral cutting when the procedure is not necessary to the health of the person on whom it is performed constitute FGM and are punishable under federal and certain state laws in the USA. GNS with clitoral reduction fits the definition of FGM because it is performed for cosmetic and social reasons, not medical necessity. Originality/value – Acknowledging GNS with clitoral reduction as FGM is a crucial strategy to ensure that female-assigned intersex children’s rights to bodily autonomy are protected to the same extent as non-intersex children’s rights. Intersex legal activists in the USA should press for enforcement of FGM statutes as to female-assigned intersex children until the medical practitioners who continue to defend and perform GNS see the procedures as illegal genital mutilation
Autonomy · Bodily integrity · Criminology · Female circumcision · Gynecology · Harm · Political science · Redress · Statute · Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues · Genital Health and Disease · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
The Growing Visibility of Intersex Demands at the United Nations
Quality of Life and Psychosocial Well-Being among Intersex-Identifying Individuals in Puerto Rico
An experimental philosophical bioethical study of how human rights are applied to clitorectomy on infants identified as female and as intersex
The rights and interests of trans and intersex children
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2023 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |