Milestones and Missed Opportunities. An Analysis of the Consideration of Intersex People in the EU Violence Protection Directive
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Abstract
Intersex people, i.e. persons who do not match medical and/or societal norms of female and male bodies, have been neglected for the longest time in EU equality policymaking. However, promising developments took place as part of the “Union of Equality” (UoE) agenda during Ursula von der Leyen's first term as President of the European Commission. The “LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020–2025” explicitly committed the EU institutions to consider the vast diversity of the LGBTIQ community and pay particular attention to its most vulnerable and commonly erased parts, including intersex people. This article will put this ambitious claim to the test and examine whether and to what extent intersex people and their lived experiences have been taken into account in one of the flagship initiatives of the UoE: The “Directive on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence”. The focus will be on the demand for EU-wide criminalization of Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM), which numerous civil society actors and intersex activists in particular have been calling for throughout the legislative process.
Keywords: EU Directive, Equality, LGBTIQ, Intersex, Violence
Bibliography: Klöckner, Thomas: Meilensteine und vertane Chancen. Eine Analyse der Berücksichtigung intergeschlechtlicher Menschen in der EU-Gewaltschutzrichtlinie, Femina Politica – Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft, 2-2025, pp. 45-60.
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