Intersex people in Europe face increasing levels of discrimination and harassment, according to a report released Wednesday by the EU Rights Agency (FRA).
The agency said it found the lack of progress alarming as disinformation campaigns online specifically target intersex people. The report includes an online survey of 1,920 intersex people in 30 and in 2023.
“Intersex people in the EU experience alarming levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence,” FRA Director Sirpa Rautio said, calling for “an urgent response.”
The nature of discrimination
Intersex people are people born with in their sexual makeup. They do not fit the traditional definition of male or female.
LGBTIQ people suffer a range of stereotypes, according to a briefing by the European Parliament about disinformation campaigns concerning LGBTIQ people in the EU. They also experience “negative othering” where they are described as morally corrupt people. None of these stereotypes is proven or can be backed by scientific data.
The FRA report also found that 57% of respondents have undergone a medical procedure to alter their biological makeup without their informed consent. It also found 39% had to undergo “conversion” procedures to change their gender. FRA recommends the EU ban conversion practices across the 27-member bloc.
According to the report, 53% of respondents contemplated suicide the year before the report.
One in three intersex people reported experiencing physical or sexual assault in the five years leading up to the report. That figure is three times higher than the rate for LGBTIQ people overall.
FRA said the LGBTIQ community was being “instrumentalized” in “a climate of increasing or persisting intolerance and bigotry.”
The briefing also found that most organized religions have teachings that preach an unfavorable view of LGBTIQ issues.
Edited by Sean Sinico
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