On days when we talk about FGM and bodily autonomy, we must also talk about intersex genital mutilation. Intersex children around the world are still subjected to irreversible surgeries on their genitals and gonads long before they are able to say, “I want this” – or “I don’t.”

What Is Intersex Genital Mutilation?

Intersex is an umbrella term for natural variations in sex characteristics – chromosomes, hormones, gonads, genitals – that don’t fit neatly into the “male” or “female” boxes. These variations are common, normal and diverse.

Intersex genital mutilation refers to non‑essential, “normalising” surgeries performed on intersex babies and children to make their genitals look more typically male or female. These procedures are often justified as necessary for social acceptance, not for health, and they are carried out long before the person can consent.

The Harm of Non‑Consensual Surgeries

These surgeries can have lifelong consequences:

• Physical: scarring, pain, incontinence, loss of sexual sensation, repeated operations during childhood.
• Psychological: shame, secrecy, broken trust with medical providers, a feeling that their body was wrong and needed fixing.

Many intersex adults describe discovering, years later, that their body was altered without their knowledge. That revelation can be profoundly destabilising, especially when combined with silence and stigma in their families and medical files.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Intersex Bodies

At the core of this issue is a lie: that intersex bodies are “wrong” and must be corrected. In reality, sex diversity is part of human diversity. The problem is not in intersex bodies; it is in rigid, binary ideas of what bodies are supposed to look like.

No surgery should be performed on a child’s genitals just to make adults more comfortable with how those genitals look. Children deserve the chance to grow, explore their gender, and participate actively in decisions about their own bodies when they’re old enough.

Bodily Autonomy for All

The struggle against intersex genital mutilation is deeply connected to other fights: against FGM, against non‑consensual surgeries on trans people, against obstetric violence, against forced sterilisation. At the heart of each is the same demand: bodily autonomy.

Women, trans men and intersex people all deserve to make their own decisions about their bodies, including whether and when to have surgery. Autonomy means informed consent, not parental panic or surgical convenience.

A World Where Everyone Owns Their Body

Imagine a world where no one wakes up to discover their childhood medical records full of surgeries they never agreed to. A world where intersex kids grow up knowing there is nothing wrong with their bodies, and that any big medical decision will wait until they are ready to say yes or no themselves.

That world is possible, but only if we keep naming intersex genital mutilation for what it is, supporting intersex activism, and demanding laws and medical guidelines that protect bodily autonomy from cradle to grave.