Transgender Europe welcomes the European Parliament Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World for the year 2013, which was adopted on February 12, 2015.
The report pays particular attention to human rights violations on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and calls for increased efforts to combat the violence and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
The EU Parliament calls upon the Commission and WHO to act towards for ending listing of trans identities as mental illnesses. States should be encouraged to introduce quick, transparent and accessible legal gender recognition procedures that are based on the person’s self-determination as well as introducing laws combating transphobic hate crime and discrimination. Sterilisation requirements should be treated and persecuted as a breach of the right to bodily integrity and of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
“We are very happy about the vocal support for trans people in this report. The Parliament sends a clear message that human rights are universal, indivisible, and apply equally to transgender people.” comments Richard Köhler, TGEU Senior Policy Officer.
“The LGBT Guidelines are a binding and powerful tool to support issues trans people face. The European External Action Service and the European Commission should use all tools at hand, the Guidelines, Human Rights Dialogues and International forums, to the fullest extent to advocate for the rights and equality of trans people.” says Köhler further.
“We are thrilled that the Parliament so vocally demands legal gender recognition based on self-determination and condemns the horrible practice of forced sterilisation.” adds TGEU co-chair Arja Voipio:
“Outside but also inside Europe states need to take up the call and quickly move forward for human rights compatible processes. Legislators need to stop legislating in the past and start creating solutions for the future.”
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ENDS
Find the relevant aspects relating to gender identity of the report below. (Highlights by TGEU)
Read the full report online.
Passages related to Gender Identity in the Report on the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2013 and the European Union’s policy on the matter (2014/2216(INI))
(Highlights by TGEU)
- Considers it regrettable […] that 20 countries still criminalise transgender identities; firmly condemns the recent increase in discriminatory laws and believes that practices and acts of violence against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity should not go unpunished; encourages close monitoring of the situation in Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi, India and Russia, where new laws or recent legal developments seriously threaten the freedom of sexual minorities;
- Supports the idea that the EEAS should prioritise its actions in this area and put particular emphasis on situations where the death penalty is in force and/or where LGBTI people are subjected to torture and ill-treatment, by condemning these practices in accordance with the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty and the EU Guidelines on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
- Welcomes the adoption in 2013 of the EU Guidelines to Promote and Protect the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons; calls on the EEAS and the Commission to raise the issue of LGBTI rights in political and human rights dialogues with third countries and multilateral forums; emphasises the importance of the Commission and the EEAS continuing to raise the issue of LGBTI rights in political and human rights dialogues and of using the EIDHR to support organisations defending LGBTI rights by empowering them to challenge homophobic and transphobic laws and discrimination against LGBTI people, raising awareness among the general public of the discrimination and violence experienced by people of different sexual orientations and gender identities, and ensuring the provision of emergency assistance (including psychosocial and medical help, mediation and reintegration assistance) to those in need of such support;
- Calls on the Commission and the WHO to withdraw gender identity disorders from the list of mental and behavioural disorders; calls on the Commission to reinforce its efforts to end the pathologisation of trans identities; encourages states to ensure quick, accessible and transparent gender recognition procedures that respect the right to self-determination;
- Welcomes the growing political support for outlawing sterilisation as a requirement for legal gender recognition, as expressed by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, and supports the view that such requirements should be treated and persecuted as a breach of the right to bodily integrity and of sexual and reproductive health and rights;
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Learn more about TGEU’s work on legal gender recognition at:
www.tgeu.org/issues/legal-gender-recognition
Watch TGEU’s latest video on the nightmare of legal gender recognition in Europe:
Transgender Europe is a European human rights NGO working for the human rights and equality of all trans people. More Information: www.tgeu.org
Transgender or Trans is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity or expression differs from the sex assigned to them at birth.
TGEU Senior Policy Officer Richard Köhler is available for interviews and questions and can be reached at:
email: richard@tgeu.org
phone: +49 (0)177 65 31 518