NHRC monitor flags 'factual error' in Kerala child rights body's intersex remarks

Gopi Shankar Madurai, Special Monitor for SOGIESC Rights at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has issued a clarification following a press release by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR). The clarification addresses what he describes as a misattribution of his positions in coverage of a report on gender non-conforming children.

Madurai stated that the KSCPCR's public relations officer had incorrectly treated gender non-conforming children as falling under the intersex or Differences/Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) category. He emphasised that this is both factually and conceptually wrong.

Drawing a clear distinction, Madurai explained that sex characteristics — such as intersex or DSD variations, which are innate biological differences in sex development — are separate from gender identity and gender expression. The latter includes gender non-conforming children and transgender identities. He warned that conflating these categories could lead to irreversible harm, stigma, and policy failure.

Referring to a court order, Madurai noted that non-consensual sex-selective or genital reconstructive surgery on intersex infants and children violates Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. Such surgery is permissible only when essential to save the child's life, and only after review by a State-level Multidisciplinary Committee. The State has been directed to issue a regulating order within three months.

Madurai also cited a document titled 'Why the Kerala Government Must Implement the Kerala High Court Order on Intersex Infants and Children'. He recommended that the court-mandated committee be expanded into a permanent State DSD/Intersex Health Management Committee. This body should include a medical geneticist as a core member, alongside paediatric endocrinologists, paediatric surgeons or urologists, child psychiatrists or psychologists, ethicists, and intersex community representatives.

Additional recommendations include issuing evidence-based DSD management guidelines that prioritise thorough diagnostic evaluation, including genetics; deferring non-urgent surgery; providing psychosocial support; and documenting multidisciplinary reviews. He also proposed establishing a mandatory statewide DSD/intersex birth registry linked to civil registration.