Edith Cowan University is commemorating Intersex Awareness Day by raising the intersex flag on their metro campuses and calling on other education institutions to sign the Darlington Statement and commit to intersex inclusive practices, policy and curriculum.
Pride @ ECU Committee Chair Constance Wiebrands said signing the Darlington Statement in 2022 was an important step in acknowledging the harm caused by tertiary education providers to intersex people throughout history, and making a commitment to ensuring this systemic harm does not continue.
“At ECU, we have a commitment to supporting intersex staff, colleagues and the wider community, and understand the responsibility we have as a tertiary institution to ensure our graduates take a human rights approach to supporting intersex people in their respective careers and communities,” Wiebrands said.
“If we say we support LGBTIQA+ people and communities, then we cannot leave anyone behind.”
Signing the statement has led to a cohort of staff from ECU School of Nursing and Midwifery and ECU School of Medical and Health Sciences receiving training from Intersex Human Rights Australia recently so they can embed intersex lived experience, research and learning into curriculum.
Dr Dianne Bloxsome, Associate Dean, Midwifery, at ECU, said this is a very important step to take in order to address the stigmatisation and unnecessary pathologisation of intersex bodies.
“Intersex people still experience unnecessary “normalising” surgeries and hormone treatment designed to make them appear more typically female or male and this can have long-term physical and psychological implications,” Dr Bloxome said.
“Research, the United Nations, the Australian Human Rights Commission and intersex people themselves are all telling us just how harmful this is, and we need to listen.”
The ACT is the only state or territory in Australia to have passed legislation to protect the human rights of people with innate variations of sex characteristics in medical settings.
Despite community advocacy efforts and extensive evidence on the lived experience of intersex people and their interactions with the health sector in the landmark Australian Human Rights Commission Ensuring health and bodily integrity 2021 report, the WA Health Minister has not committed to legislative change.
As we enter Pride Month in WA, ECU wants to highlight the importance of celebrating intersex people and taking action to advocate for intersex rights.
This Intersex Awareness Day, they are calling on other education institutions in Australia to sign the Darlington Statement, engage with intersex led organisations to provide training to staff and embed this learning into practices, policy and curriculum, and to take meaningful action toward supporting intersex students and colleagues beyond general LGBTIQA+ initiatives
The intersex flag will remain flying on ECU’s metro campuses through to Intersex Day of Solidarity on 8 November.
Leigh Andrew Hill, image: supplied. Declaration: OUTinPerth’s co-editor Graeme Watson is an employee of ECU.
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