{{Short description|Nigerian intersex human-rights activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Obioma Chukwuike | image = | caption = Obioma Chukwuike in 2025 | citizenship =Nigerian | education = Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology | occupation = Human rights activist | known_for = Intersex rights advocacy in Nigeria | organisation = Intersex Nigeria }}
'''Obioma Chukwuike''' is a Nigerian intersex and non-binary human rights activist and community organiser.<ref name="OHCHR2024">{{cite web |title=Big victory for intersex people and their rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2024/04/big-victory-intersex-people-and-their-rights |website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |publisher=United Nations |date=April 2024 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="HBF2022">{{cite web |title=Stories of Feminist Mobilisation: How to Advance Feminist Movement Worldwide |url=https://www.boell.de/en/2022/12/12/stories-feminist-mobilisation-how-advance-feminist-movement-worldwide |website=Heinrich Böll Foundation |date=12 December 2022 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref> They are the founder and executive director of Intersex Nigeria, the country's first organisation dedicated to advancing the rights, visibility, and wellbeing of intersex people.<ref name="IntersexNigeriaFirst">{{cite web |title=25 November 2019 — Founding of Intersex Nigeria |url=https://transintersexhistory.africa/25-november-2019-founding-of-intersex-nigeria/ |website=Trans & Intersex History Africa |date=25 November 2019 |access-date=21 October 2025 |quote=Intersex Nigeria was founded by Obioma Chukwuike in response to the critical need for dedicated support, advocacy and visibility for intersex persons in Nigeria.}}</ref> Chukwuike is known for advocating against non-consensual medical interventions, promoting bodily autonomy, and pushing for the inclusion of intersex persons in national health and policy frameworks.<ref name="IntersexGreece">{{cite web |title=Anyone can be Born Intersex: A Photo-Portrait Story by Intersex-Nigeria |url=https://intersexgreece.org.gr/en/2021/09/18/intersex-nigeria-in-global-family/ |website=Intersex Greece |date=18 September 2021 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="MamaCash">{{cite web |title=Meet: Intersex Nigeria |url=https://www.mamacash.org/resources/meet-intersex-nigeria/ |publisher=Mama Cash |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref>
== Education == Chukwuike graduated from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology with a bachelor's degree in Geography and Meteorology in 2013, and obtained a Master of Science in Environmental Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.<ref name="ELC">{{cite web |title=Obioma Chukwuike |url=https://europeanlesbianconference.org/speakers/chukwuike-obioma/ |publisher=European Lesbian Conference |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref>
== Activism and career == Chukwuike leads Intersex Nigeria, a national organisation that promotes awareness, community-building, policy advocacy, and access to healthcare for intersex people.<ref name="OHCHR2024" /><ref name="IntersexGreece" /><ref name="BusinessDayIntersex">{{Cite news |title=Government urged to stop discrimination against intersex people |url=https://businessday.ng/brands-advertising/article/government-urged-to-stop-discrimination-against-intersex-people/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|newspaper=BusinessDay|access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="OutrightIntersex">{{cite web |title=Embracing the Realities of Sex Development: Challenges and Achievements of Intersex Activism in Nigeria |url=https://outrightinternational.org/insights/embracing-realities-sex-development-challenges-and-achievements-intersex-activism-nigeria |website=Outright International |date=27 October 2022 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref>
In 2023, they led Intersex Nigeria's participation in the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Pre-Session, marking the first time intersex rights were formally addressed at that level by a Nigerian organisation.<ref name="UPRInfoStatement">{{cite web |title=Statement at the UPR Pre-Session on the Human Rights Situation of LGBTQI Persons in Nigeria |url=https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/country-document/2023-11/Statement_Nigerian_LGBTQI_Coalition.pdf |website=UPR Info |date=November 2023 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref>
Chukwuike has spoken extensively on the invisibility of intersex people in national sexual and reproductive health policies, legal and political exclusion, and the continued social marginalisation and non-consensual medical interventions of intersex children and adults in Nigeria.<ref name="MamaCash" /><ref name="BusinessDayIntersex" /><ref name="OutrightIntersex" /><ref name="AITIntersex">{{cite news |title=Intersex Community Demands Urgent Reform In Healthcare System |url=https://ait.live/intersex-community-demands-urgent-reform-in-healthcare-system/ |work=AIT LIVE |date=April 2025 |access-date=21 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="Vanguard">{{cite news |title=Intersex community seeks inclusion, tasks FG on recognition, protection of rights |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/11/intersex-community-seeks-inclusion-tasks-fg-on-recognition-protection-of-rights/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|date=November 2022 |access-date=21 October 2025|newspaper=Vanguard}}</ref>
== Advocacy and public positions == Chukwuike argues that binary conceptions of sex have resulted in systemic discrimination, exclusion from healthcare systems, and violations of the bodily autonomy of intersex persons in Nigeria. They continue to call for: * Inclusion of intersex people in national policy frameworks and health systems;<ref name="MamaCash" /><ref name="AITIntersex" /><ref name="IntersexGreece" /><ref name="OutrightIntersex" /><ref name="Vanguard" /> * The prohibition of non-consensual medical interventions on intersex infants and minors;<ref name="MamaCash" /><ref name="AITIntersex" /><ref name="IntersexGreece" /><ref name="OutrightIntersex" /><ref name="Vanguard" /> * Implementation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Resolution 552 on the protection of intersex persons.<ref name="MamaCash" /><ref name="AITIntersex" /><ref name="IntersexGreece" /><ref name="OutrightIntersex" /><ref name="Vanguard" />
== Personal life == Chukwuike identifies as an intersex and non-binary person, using the pronouns they/them.<ref name="HBF2022" /> Their lived experience informs their advocacy, recognising that intersex persons in Nigeria face unique medical, social, and legal challenges, including stigma, secrecy, non-consensual surgical interventions, and lack of legal recognition.<ref name="Vanguard" /><ref name="AITIntersex" />
== See also == * Intersex human rights * LGBT rights in Nigeria * Universal Periodic Review
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://intersexnigeria.org Official website – Intersex Nigeria]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chukwuike, Obioma}} Category:Intersex people Category:Intersex rights activists Category:Nigerian human rights activists Category:Nigerian non-binary people Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century Nigerian LGBTQ people