About ECU

Thursday, 26 October 2023

Today, 26 October, ECU is commemorating Intersex Awareness Day by raising the intersex flag on our metro campuses and calling on other education institutions to sign the Darlington Statement and commit to intersex inclusive practices, policy and curriculum.

Intersex people have innate sex characteristics that do not fit medical norms for female or male bodies. Intersex people are part of a hugely diverse population, with at least 40 different underlying traits known to science.

The date, 26 October, marks the day in 1996 when intersex activists and supporters in Boston, Massachusetts, held a protest outside a paediatrics conference, from which they had been removed and excluded. This demonstration is considered a pivotal moment in the intersex rights movement, as it brought attention to the medical and ethical issues surrounding intersex treatment and the need for greater awareness, and human rights for intersex individuals. Intersex Awareness Day was first observed in 2004, and has become a chance not just to raise awareness of intersex people and the injustices they face, but also to celebrate them.

At ECU, we have an ongoing and maturing 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.

It has been twelve months since ECU signed the Darlington Statement, a joint consensus statement by Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand intersex organisations and independent advocates calling for progress to intersex human rights.

A cohort of staff from ECU School of Nursing and Midwifery and ECU School of Medical and Health Sciences have since received training from Intersex Human Rights Australia so they can embed intersex lived experience, research and learning into curriculum.

Dr Dianne (Di) 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,” said Dr Bloxome.

“But 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.”

Constance Wiebrands, ECU’s Pride at ECU Committee Chair says the decision to sign the statement and make a formal commitment to intersex people and communities at ECU was important and necessary.

“Intersex people face long-term physical and psychological implications from harmful and continuing medical practices,” said Wiebrands.

“If we say we support LGBTIQA+ people and communities, then we cannot leave anyone behind.”

As we enter Pride Month in WA, we want to highlight the importance of celebrating intersex people and taking action to advocate for intersex rights.

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.

This Intersex Awareness Day, we call on other education institutions to:

1. Sign the Darlington Statement
2. Engage with intersex led organisations to provide training and guide the work you are doing to support intersex people and communities
3. Take meaningful action toward supporting intersex students and colleagues beyond general LGBTIQA+ initiatives

ECU will be flying the intersex flag for the first time from Intersex Awareness Day on Thursday 26 October, through to Intersex Day of Solidarity on November 8.

Further information and support can be found at Intersex Human Rights Australia, Intersex Peer Support Australia and InterLink.