Overview: 

We invite submissions for our Law, Policy and Intersex workshop exploring legal developments in the rights of intersex people.
As a field, interdisciplinary intersex studies is burgeoning with important interventions across sociology, history, psychology, literature and medicine. This workshop pays special attention to the relationship between law, policy and intersex. It aims to bring together scholars, practitioners, policymakers and activists working at the intersection of law and intersex working across countries, legal jurisdictions and scales. As a consequence, the event aims to highlight commonalities and differences across the boundaries of law.

Whilst the workshop necessarily considers the contours of bodily integrity and autonomy for intersex children it also makes space to critically examine and discuss other legal interventions in this space such as ‘x’ markers, anti-discrimination law and the regulation of artificial hormones. At the supranational level the Council of Europe’s recent ‘Recommendation on Equal Rights for Intersex Persons’ (Recommendation CM/Rec(2025)7) will be a priority of focus alongside previous attempts at European coalition building in this space. 

Some potential topics for papers to explore include:

• How is law being used to promote intersex justice?
• Whose voices are being prioritised in the legal construction of intersex?
• How can policy makers better platform intersex goals

Submission Guidelines:

Abstracts should be up to 300 words in length. Please include in your submission:

• Title
• Author name(s)
• Institutional affiliation(s) (where relevant)
• Contact email
• Brief biographical note (100 words)

Submission Date: 18th March 2026

• Submissions should be sent to: fae.garland manchester.ac uk
• Subject line: Abstract Submission – Law, Policy and Intersex Workshop

Organising Committee: This workshop is organised through the ESRC grant ‘Examining the potential for legislative prohibitions designed to improve healthcare experiences for intersex people in the UK: lessons from Europe’ (UKRI2859) and is organised by Dr Fae Garland, Prof. Mitchell Travis, Prof Angelika von Wahl, Dr Miriea Garces De Marcilla Muste and Inês Espinhaço Gomes. This is a comparative project which explores legal reform in Malta, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and considers reform options within England and Wales. For more information about the project see here.