New website launched for intersex research project

New Interdisciplinary Approaches (INIA) is excited to announce the launch of its new website.

The launch takes place on Intersex Awareness Day, which is celebrated annually by intersex people and their allies on October 26.

The website, and the associated project, is a response to the fact that intersex people’s healthcare, social and human rights issues are too often overlooked. They continue to face exposure to multiple forms of human rights violations and discrimination, requiring cross-sectoral policy responses in fields including healthcare, education, and the law.

Speaking in support of this initiative, Project Coordinator Professor Surya Monro from the University’s Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences said: “This network breaks new ground in looking at key issues for intersex people, such as support for intersex children and their families, the experiences of older intersex people, and intersex equality.”

Project objectives

The INIA project’s objectives are to: 

• Generate knowledge that supports the wellbeing and social/economic contributions of intersex people/people with variations of sex characteristics. 
• Use innovative interdisciplinary academic resources to push forward understandings of intersex and inform academic fields. 
• Produce excellent research and evidence to help address societal challenges associated with intersex.

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male and female, according to the UN definition.

Intersex: New Interdisciplinary Approaches (INIA) is a new international research network training a cohort of 10 early stage researchers (ESRs). The ESRs will develop knowledge that will inform policy making and practice, producing literature to promote Intersex Studies as an academic field of research. They will also establish a collaborative network of highly skilled researchers and national and/international stakeholders. 

 INIA has been established by the University of Huddersfield, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Dublin City University, the University of Zurich, the Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública / Andalusian School of Public Health and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in collaboration with intersex scholars, activists and advocates, clinicians, and other specialists.  

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 859869.  

To learn more, visit the INIA website and follow us on social media @INIAproject. 

Or to speak with a member of the INIA team, email Professor Surya Monro, University of Huddersfield, Tel +44 (0) 1484471424, mobile 07940136764, email s.monro@hud.ac.uk