Filmmaker, sound designer and intersex activist Aaron Levi Kryzhanovsky described abuse he said he experienced in Russia during childhood and adolescence. In an interview conducted by Just Got Lucky specifically for Novaya Gazeta Europe and published on November 1, he recounted coercive procedures, attempts by relatives to change his identity and an extended stay at a monastery.
Kryzhanovsky said relatives began beating and humiliating him when he was around 12 or 13 after discovering private correspondence. According to his account, they forced him to see specialists and undergo practices intended, in their view, to “correct” him.
He described being restrained, subjected to psychological pressure and made to undergo other abusive procedures as part of what he calls “conversion therapy.” He described some of the treatment as torture.
According to the activist, he was sent to a women's monastery at around age 14, where he experienced beatings, restrictions on communication and isolation. He said he spent almost two years there.
Kryzhanovsky also described medical examinations during adolescence that he said identified variations in his reproductive anatomy. He said hormone therapy was recommended after those examinations.
Later, according to Kryzhanovsky, he became involved in human rights work and organized a meeting in Russia for families on intersex variations, inviting medical specialists among others. At the time of the interview, he was living in Belgrade.
Kryzhanovsky also said he was living with cancer and continuing to make films. He described filmmaking as a way to communicate his experiences and explore questions of identity.