Jana Hugo and Irene Kuzemko from OII Europe, the umbrella organization of all intersex organizations in Europe, attended the joint event of Ankara Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Center and Inter Solidarity. During the event, the official regulations banning non-consensual intersex surgeries were discussed with examples from Germany, Greece and Belgium.

Speaking at the event, Jana Hugo discussed the laws banning intersex surgeries in Germany and Greece. Hugo said, “The law was passed in Germany in 2021. This law had its shortcomings, but the law passed in Greece made up for the shortcomings of the German law. From this point of view, the political context is very important in the intersex issue.”

Hugo stated that in laws banning intersex surgeries, there should be sanctions against those who perform these surgeries:

“In Germany, the law was drafted after consulting both intersex people and doctors. A similar situation happened in Belgium. But the most striking example of a law banning intersex surgeries is Greece. In Greece, there is open communication between medical professionals and intersex people. It was thanks to activism in Greece that this law was passed. In Greece, a law banning intersex surgeries was passed after a proposal from a member of parliament.”

Hugo also spoke about the “self-determination law” that is currently being drafted in Germany. Hugo said that the “self-determination law” actually concerns the trans community, but that the intersex community was also consulted during the drafting of the law. Hugo said that the process of passing this law is complicated and that the far-right is on the rise in Germany and that “there is no concrete development that will satisfy the intersex community yet”.

“Lawsuits against intersex surgeries led to the adoption of the law”
Irene Kuzemko from the OII organization explained the reasons for the law as follows:

“In Germany, the law was passed due to the revelation that the surgeries are still going on. The visibility of intersex activists and the shadow reports sent to the UN are also among the factors that led to the law in Germany. In addition, the LGBTI+ struggle has also had a significant impact on this issue. On the other hand, lawsuits on intersex surgeries also led to the passage of the law. In the case of Greece, the political environment and the fact that the intersex movement there was able to establish relations with MPs and the Ministry of Health also had an impact.”