The curious case of the ‘de-sexing’ of clinical language and the Attorney-General

Academic Dr Karleen Gribble explains where the drive to 'de-sex' medical terms is coming from and the potential impacts of it.
Dr Karleen Gribble (PhD).

The de-sexing of medical language has sparked debate this week, after 180 clinicians and researchers warned the NHMRC of its clinical dangers. 

Responding to two NHMRC draft statements* on gender and sex data in research, the group said the trend was positioning women as ‘second-class human beings’ and putting transgender patients at risk of harm.