By a Correspondent
The Zimbabwean government has launched a process to review laws affecting intersex people following a landmark court challenge, in a move that could pave the way for greater legal recognition and protection of a group that fall outside the country’s binary legal framework.
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics — including chromosomes, hormones or reproductive anatomy — that do not fit typical definitions of male or female, the only two sexes recognised under Zimbabwe’s Constitution.
The government’s move was triggered by a High Court application filed by Tsunga Bamu Law International, which is seeking legal recognition of intersex as a distinct gender marker and the protection of the constitutional rights of intersex persons in Zimbabwe.
The law firm filed the application on behalf of intersex persons who argue that their constitutional rights are being violated by Zimbabwe’s civil registration system.
“Applicants were born with intersex variations and have, as a result, been subjected to systemic and ongoing violations of their constitutional rights arising from the legal and administrative failure to recognise their identities within Zimbabwe’s civil registration system,” the application states.
“The applicants have suffered the denial of birth registration and the issuance of national identity and travel documents reflecting their correct gender marker — intersex — as well as discrimination and exclusion from accessing essential administrative services due to the State’s failure to align their legal documents with their actual biological identities.”
The applicants argue that these practices violate several constitutional rights, including the right to dignity (Section 51), equality and non-discrimination (Section 56), the right to the prompt provision of a birth certificate (Section 81(1)(c)), and the right to administrative justice (Section 68).
According to the application, Zimbabwe’s civil registration system, administered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act (Chapter 5:02) and the National Registration Act (Chapter 10:17), recognises only male and female sex classifications, leaving no legal mechanism for the registration of intersex persons.
“This legislative gap is compounded by the absence of any enabling policy or administrative mechanism, which results in the systemic exclusion of intersex individuals from accessing civil documentation such as birth certificates, national identity cards and passports. Consequently, intersex persons face entrenched barriers in accessing education, healthcare, employment, financial services and freedom of movement,” the application states.
Following the High Court application, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs this week convened a high-level stakeholders’ meeting in Harare, bringing together government ministers, legal experts, healthcare professionals, development partners and civil society organisations to discuss reforms aimed at addressing legal and administrative gaps affecting intersex persons.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi acknowledged that the review was prompted by litigation before the courts.
“Basically what we have done is we have received a court challenge regarding this issue (intersex) and we referred it to the Attorney General,” Ziyambi said.
“After that we decided as a Ministry that we need to undertake research.”
The minister said the Zimbabwe Law Development Commission, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), carried out research that informed the stakeholder consultations.
“The research and this meeting are part of work in progress,” Ziyambi said.
“We have presentations and testimonies and lived experiences, and we believe that out of the meeting, we will be able to come up with concrete measures.”
He said recommendations from the consultations would be submitted to Cabinet to inform future policy and legislative reforms.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Edgar Moyo acknowledged that Zimbabwe’s current legal framework does not adequately address the needs of intersex people.
“There is a real gap in our statutes to address those issues because we are basically classified as male and female and then there are people falling in between,” Moyo said.
He said stigma and cultural beliefs had contributed to the marginalisation of intersex people, leaving many vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion.
According to Moyo, many intersex Zimbabweans face difficulties obtaining birth certificates, national identity documents and other official records that accurately reflect their biological characteristics, creating barriers to education, healthcare, employment, banking services and voter registration.
Officials said recommendations from the stakeholder consultations would be presented to Cabinet before any legislative amendments are drafted.
