Speakers & Presenters
Further information about the amazing speakers we have lined up
Tu Chapman (more coming)
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Dr. Katrina Roen (more coming)
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Dr. Rogena Sterling (PhD, LLM, LLB) Chair- Intersex Aotearoa
Biography
(Skart/Intersex, of Scottish descent, living on the lands of Waikato-Tainui)
Dr. Sterling is currently a lecturer and researcher at the University of Waikato. Their focus is on human rights; identity/well-being; privacy and data sovereignty; customary law; (inter)sex/gender issues. Their thesis and research centres around human rights and interests. Their work has involved rights and interests and engagement, for example, they have worked on outlining the rights and interests in data; CARE principles (for Indigenous peoples) in the open data space; developing a framework for Māori data privacy along with kaumatua; developing frameworks for eDNA Māori engagement processes; and intersex issues in health and education. These have been presented at numerous conferences and talks and widely published. They are on a number of advisory committees and have had a Ministerial appointment to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Board.
Session Title: Embodiment as Central to Health of Intersex People
Background: Intersex people experience systemic trauma and violence through foundational structures, especially medical, that should support them. This is not only physical trauma through non-consensual medical interventions, but the erasure of their personhood.
Western medical frameworks have classified the innate bodily diversity as a "Disorder of Sex Development" (DSD) and later ‘variations of sex characteristics (VSC). These function to remove the link between intersex people and ancestral lines (whakapapa), they remove the inherent spiritual authority (mana) and pathologise the body. This separation of the physical body from a psychological ‘identity’, is inadequately addressed by current feminist or queer theories that retain this fundamental body-self split
Methods: This study employs a critical theoretical analysis, drawing from te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) to propose a paradigm shift in understanding intersex sexual health. We centre the Māori concept of whakatinanatanga—the sacred act of embodiment—as the primary analytical framework. This approach is integrated with a whole-of-life perspective, examining how the consequences of pathologisation accumulate across the life course. The analysis is further supported by feminist materialist scholarship and a review of life course research on the health outcomes of intersex adults.
Results: The analysis reveals that the Western concept of "gender" was invented as a clinical tool to manage and erase intersex bodies, making it a structurally violent and disembodying apparatus. Applying the Te Whare Tapa Whā (four pillars of Māori health) model demonstrates that pathologizing the intersex tinana (body) causes a total collapse of well-being across physical, spiritual, mental, and social domains. Furthermore, the whole-of-life perspective shows that these harms—including loss of sexual sensation, spiritual alienation, and significant mental health disparities—are not confined to infancy but accumulate and evolve from youth through old age, with healthcare systems typically failing to provide dedicated care pathways for intersex adults.
Conclusion: Sexual health for intersex people is unattainable through models that pathologise their existence. Whakatinanatanga offers a necessary and liberatory framework by reclaiming the intersex body as the sacred and undeniable evidence of a valid whakapapa. This requires an immediate end to all non-consensual interventions, not only to prevent physical harm but to protect the integrity and restore the mana of a people. True sexual health and well-being demand a whole-of-life, intersex-led, and culturally responsive care model grounded in the profound affirmation of embodied personhood
Dr. Cynthia Mulit. Ph.D, LPC, NCC, BC-TMH
Counselor Educator
Coming soon
Session Title: How Do You Explain What It Means to Be Intersex? A Teaching Tool.
Intersex communities possess beautiful diversity.
Yet that complexity produces a challenge for educators and activists.
How can we rapidly convey a coherent intersex specific story?
How do we honor sub-community disagreements and the overlapping issues with other LGBTQ+ movements without being buried in them?
As a counselor educator, the presenter first turned to models.
In her dissertation, she developed an intersex specific identity development model to organize psychological themes culled from interviews of U.S. intersex elders. She now addresses the larger social contexts in which intersex individuals develop their personal identities.
This session presents a teaching tool in progress, a series of diagrams titled Intersex People: Exist and Are Human Beings, including sub-categories, Intersex-Biology, Intersex-Communities, Intersex-Identity Development, Intersex-Culture, Spirituality, and History, Intersex-Human Rights, and Intersex-Leaders and Contributions. The teaching tool is designed to (a) depict that intersex individuals are not erased by Western politics and medicalization, and (b) highlight the unique intersex identity challenge. Intersex people are told by a binary sex philosophy that they do not exist when they most certainly do.
International Speaker
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Prudence Walker- Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga Disability Rights Commissioner
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Taine Polkinghorne- Human Rights Commission
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Dr. Claire Breen Professor Claire Breen (BCL. LLM. PhD)
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Mathilde Redamare -Intersex Aotearoa Team Lead & Peer Support Lead
Biography
(they/them, English/Scottish)
Kia ora! Ko Mathilde ahau. I’m an intersex person based in Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland, and proud to serve as the Operations Lead and Peer Support Lead at Intersex Aotearoa.
With lived experience of navigating the complexities of intersex identity, I bring both personal and professional experience to my dual role.
In Operations, I work to ensure our organization runs smoothly and sustainably, helping to coordinate structures, resources, and day-to-day processes so that our advocacy, education, and community-building work can thrive.
As Peer Support Lead, I draw on my own journey - growing up, I often had to advocate for myself, and I know how hard that can be. My goal now is to offer others what I needed: an affirming and understanding space. Intersex Aotearoa believes that everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and supported.
I’m deeply informed and motivated by the vision of making Aotearoa a place where intersex people are affirmed, respected, and empowered to thrive.
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Mx A.J O'dea -
Biography
AJ O’Dea is a museum host and tour guide at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, where they share stories about Aotearoa’s cultural and natural history with visitors from around the world. They are also an artist and an intersex advocate involved with Intersex Peer Support Australia and Intersex Aotearoa, working to increase understanding and visibility for intersex communities in Aotearoa.
AJ has a passion for storytelling and education and in their free time, they enjoy running Dungeons & Dragons, language learning, playing video games or exploring the outdoors.
Our MC for the entiriety of the wānanga- see biography for more info on AJ