Intersex researcher and activist Awo Dufie shares her perspective on intersex inclusion, identity and advocacy in the Global South and beyond.
How has being intersex shaped the way you move through the world?
Being an intersex person makes you see the world very differently from a lot of people and that often impacts how you navigate it. Personally, I live in a society that largely understands gender and sex as a binary and automatically assumes you are either a cisheterosexual man or woman. If you are like me and do not fit into such neat binaries, you constantly face consequences which are not always positive.
"The only way I can describe it is like being an uninvited guest at a table for two (man and woman), except this table is everywhere you go. Government institutions? Table for 2. Hospital services? Table for 2. Public restrooms? You answer." - Awo Dufie
As a third party in a position like this you resist in ways you can and also employ conforming to the status quo if it guarantees your safety. For instance, as an intersex and trans woman, one of my major ways of resistance is in my self expression, my work, and my determination to curate and document queer lives as much as I can. On the other hand my need for safety and self preservation also requires that sometimes I compromise my self expression or pretend to be my assigned sex. My identity and experiences as an intersex person who has had to thread between masculinity, femininity and what constitutes and differentiate both has allowed me to critically interrogate and ask why society is shaped the way it is and demand for things to change.
How do the lived experiences of intersex people in the global south differ to those in the global north?
The lived experiences of intersex people vary everywhere, but our dreams intersect. I believe at the core of it, all of us in the global south and north collectively dream and desire a world where intersex and other queer people are accepted and we thrive. This dream to see one another thrive is the reason for our fierce advocacy.
I also think we share a collective experience of resisting several gender binary expectations and norms in our own unique ways, and within these ways of resisting we identify common struggles such as our shared experiences with healthcare systems, intersex genital mutilation, intersex discrimination, and legal reforms that are inclusive of intersex people.
On another hand the experiences of intersex people in the global south may vary largely due to several factors, such as our cultural meaning-making of what the intersex body represents as well as the combined advocacy strategies we employ to mobilise. Intersex bodies, especially if they do not pass as masculine or feminine or are considered unconventional, are subjected to taboos as means through which people made meaning in the absence of scientific evidence. This has fuelled social stigma which has filtered into public discourses, policies, and even institutions such as healthcare and educational systems.
"Until recently physicians in a lot of countries in Africa considered several unconscionable genital mutilation surgeries perfectly normal. They did everything they deemed necessary to force perfectly healthy intersex people into heteronormative boxes." - Awo Dufie
People from the intersex community fiercely employ a bottom-up advocacy strategy which recognizes that true power to effect change comes from intersex people ourselves. Thus intersex people from the global south are empowered to share their own stories to actively engage allies, opinion leaders and policy makers. Intersex people also equally employ a top-down approach and engage directly with authorities in positions of power. This year, I have been privileged to attend a few of such meetings and what both approaches indicate is that intersex Africans are increasingly mobilising and taking back power by rejecting cisheteronormative norms.
How has intersex advocacy shaped your life?
"The start of my advocacy was recognizing and internalising the idea that just because my body might have been different, did not mean it was abnormal and deserved to be treated like an abomination. It is a powerful realisation that comes from gradually understanding that you find yourself in a society that you really do not have any place in. It encourages you to resist in any way possible and put your body on the line - because why not if your body is already on the line anyway?" - Awo Dufie
This recognition similarly binds a large community of intersex people in Ghana and West Africa who continue to grow every passing day, a community I deeply cherish and appreciate for its care and solidarity to intersex people with marginalised genders. The Intersex Movement Ghana (whose executive committee I am a part of), Intersex Kenya, and Intersex Nigeria have done a great job supporting intersex people to mobilise and make important demands such as demanding an end to intersex genital mutilation and discrimination against intersex people, and through this they have created such an amazing and empowered community of intersex people who support and cheer me on. That is a huge motivation and reminder to keep on doing the work I do.
What does the future of intersex inclusion look like to you?
The intersex movement in the Global South, especially East and West Africa, continues to make immense progress that I am extremely proud of. In Ghana, the Intersex Movement Ghana and KeyWatch Ghana continue to work hard to mobilise the intersex community, advocate, and mobilise sympathisers and allies. They worked hard pushing back against the legalised medical intervention on intersex bodies and they continue to organise a large number of local authorities and opinion leaders as allies of the intersex community.
The Nigerian intersex community has similarly been mobilising and striving to advocate for the rights and well being of Intersex people in Nigeria. The Kenyan Intersex community of course continue to set the pace, as they have successfully lobbied the Kenyan government to recognize intersex as a third gender in Kenya.
I continue to see monumental wins like these, especially observing how much intersex people continue to tirelessly mobilise and organise. The possibilities of this mobilising are endless, as it comes with several opportunities for legal reforms which will ban intersex genital mutilations, interventions, and discrimination against intersex people. Such mobilising also provides the opportunity for intersex people to be recognised as a third sex marker on official documents as has been done in Kenya.
"It is my sincere hope that intersex advocacy in the global south will adopt a much more decolonial framework and approach which embodies and centres the entire experiences of intersex people, such as their everyday lives. It is important that we recognise the intersex living and experience as one that embodies all of our life experiences and not only what medical conditions we have and how much intersexphobia we experience." - Awo Dufie
It would be dystopian to suggest that these achievements will come easy or even stand to be accomplished at all. The anti-abortion rights and anti-trans movements have focused on patrolling especially women’s bodies by constantly gatekeeping what and who a woman is. These groups whose efforts and donations extend to Africa continue to rollback and undo years of hard work and advocacy for intersex rights. Beatrice Masilingi, Christine Mboma, and Caster Semenya are a few intersex women who have unfortunately been victims of this recent roll back in trans/intersex rights and visibility. This speaks to just how intersectional intersex human rights are with the rights of trans people and how much this fight continues to be a fight for all marginalised queer people.
Awo Dufie (she/her)
Awo Dufie is a transgender and intersex researcher, writer and activist from Ghana. As a researcher, her works explore the history of the LGBTIQ community in Ghana and Africa. As an activist, she works to advocate for LGBTIQ elders through her project- Queer Elders Speak- a series where she interviews and documents the lived experiences of LGBTIQ elders in Africa.
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