| Irene Kuzemko | |
| Native Name: | Ірина Куземко |
| Birth Date: | 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Lviv, Ukraine |
| Occupation: | Executive board member of OII Europe, co-founder of Intersex Russia |
| Known For: | Intersex human rights activist |
Irene Kuzemko (;), also transcribed from Ukrainian and Russian as Irina Kuzemko, is a Russian-Ukrainian[1] intersex woman and intersex human rights activist. She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017,[2] is a youth member of interACT, and an executive board member of OII Europe. She have started her human rights advocacy as a member of Association of the Russian Speaking Intersex.[3]
Kuzemko was born in 1993 in Lviv, Ukraine with mixed gonadal dysgenesis and assigned female at birth.[4] She was unaware of any difference in her body until puberty when her body failed to menstruate or grow breasts, and she was unaware of this possibility.[4] [5] Kuzemko was sent to Moscow aged 15 for medical treatment.[6] She describes being left in the corridor while discussions about her body took place without her being present,[6] experiences of shame, alienation and suicidality,[6] [7] and her father telling her she had "something wrong with [her] ovaries".[4] She underwent surgery, awaking with her hands and legs tied down.[6] Kuzemko first experienced menstruation at age 17.[4]
She has described how she found out she was intersex when watching a BuzzFeed video about people with intersex variations, when she was aged 22.[6] [8] Kuzemko describes this moment as like "winning the jackpot" because she learned that other people with similar experiences existed.[4] She states that knowing the truth about her body was liberating and helped her become confident.[6]
Kuzemko requested her medical records and found out that she had XY chromosomes, and had been subjected to removal of an internal testis and fallopian tube without her knowledge.[8]
Kuzemko campaigns for bodily autonomy, and an end to secrecy and unnecessary medicalization,[8] describing how medical intervention is still promoted by the Russian Ministry of Health.[9] She have expressed concern about linking intersex and LGBT rights at a time of violence against LGBT people in Russia, and states:
She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017 and is a youth member of interACT and an executive board member of OII Europe.[10] She speaks internationally[11] [12] and contributes to work developing resources,[13] [14] [15] and promoting sexual and reproductive rights.[16]