Trans Rights Europe & Central Asia Index 2020 – Indicators & Criteria

• Existence of legal measures:

Criteria: 

There is legislation in place for legal gender recognition and there is a procedure that provides consistent results.

• Existence of administrative measures:

Criteria: 

There is a clearly established administrative procedure in place for legal gender recognition, or court decisions, and they provide consistent results.

• Name change:

Criteria: 

There is a legal or administrative procedure in place that makes name change possible for trans people, and it provides consistent results. This includes deed poll¹.

• Name change without age restriction (new):

Criteria: 

There is a legal or administrative procedure in place that makes name change possible for trans people under 18, without any age restriction, and it provides consistent results. This includes deed poll².

• Self-determination:

Criteria: 

A point is awarded if all of the following criteria are met:

• LGR is based exclusively on the expressed wish of the person concerned e.g. by declaration
• Does not require third party involvement, e.g. judge, medical expert, intercessor
• Intersex status and/ or sex characteristics are not a contraindication.

• No diagnosis or psychological opinion required:

Criteria: 

Diagnosis (such as Gender Identity Disorder, Gender Incongruence, or similar) or  psychological opinion are not required for legal gender recognition.

• No compulsory medical intervention required:

Criteria: 

Non-surgical medical interventions (such as medical examinations, assessments, hormone therapy) are not required for legal gender recognition.

• No compulsory surgical intervention required:

Criteria: 

Surgical interventions are not required for legal gender recognition.

• No compulsory sterilisation required:

Criteria: 

Sterilisation or proof of infertility are not required for legal gender recognition.

• No compulsory divorce required:

Criteria: 

Divorce or single status are not required for legal gender recognition.

• LGR without age restriction (new):

Criteria: 

The legal or administrative procedures in place for legal gender recognition have no age restriction, and they provide consistent results for minors.

• Self-determination based LGR without age restriction (new):

Criteria: 

A point is awarded if all of the following criteria are met:

• There is no explicit age restriction for minors to change their legal gender
• LGR is based exclusively on the expressed wish of the person concerned e.g. by declaration
• Does not require third party involvement, e.g. judge, medical expert, intercessor
• Intersex status and/ or sex characteristics are not a contraindication.
• Gender non-binary recognition:

Criteria: 

A point is awarded if:

• More than two gender marker options  (“X”, “NB”, “other”, or other option(s)) are available in the public registry (e.g. Register of Births, etc.); and

• Available for those who seek it (not forced);

OR

• No mandatory recording of gender marker in the public registry (ability to opt out from recording of gender marker available to all, not only trans/intersex people).

Half a point is awarded if:

• More than two gender marker options (such as “X”) are available in passport only, and 

• Available for those who seek it (not forced).

• Law: 

Criteria: 

Gender identity is expressly included in asylum law as a qualification criterion.

• Policy/other positive measures: 

Criteria: 

Gender identity is expressly included in policy/instructions/other positive measures. This only refers to actions based on a recurrent and continuing framework by state actors (ad hoc measures do not count).

Examples:

• Existence of specific measures in a general national LGBTI equality action plan
• Existence of a sectoral action plan in the area of asylum

• Hate crime law: 

Criteria: 

Bias based on the victim’s (perceived) gender identity is expressly included in hate crime legislation as an aggravating factor.

• Hate speech law: 

Criteria: 

Gender identity is expressly included in hate speech legislation as an aggravating factor.

• Policy tackling hatred: 

Criteria: 

Gender identity is included in a national strategy tackling hatred (hate crimes or hate speech). This only refers to actions based on a recurrent and continuing framework by state actors (ad hoc measures do not count).

Examples:

• Existence of specific measures addressing hatred in a general national LGBT equality action plan
• Existence of a specific sectoral action plan in the area of hate crime/hate speech covering LGBTI
• Existence of generalised training curricula for competent professionals (e.g. police officers, prosecutors, victim support services, judges)
• Existence of specialised dedicated structure(s) within the competent public authorities, with an expertise in the area of LGBTI hate crime/hate speech

• Employment: 

Criteria: 

Legislation prohibits discrimination in the field of employment and gender identity is expressly mentioned. Equivalent ground e.g. sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc. accepted too.

• Health: 

Criteria: 

Legislation prohibits discrimination in the field of health and gender identity is expressly mentioned. Equivalent ground e.g. sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc. accepted too.

• Education: 

Criteria: 

Legislation prohibits discrimination in the field of education and gender identity is expressly mentioned. Equivalent ground e.g. sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc. accepted too.

• Goods & services: 

Criteria: 

Legislation prohibits discrimination in the field of goods & services and gender identity is expressly mentioned. Equivalent ground e.g. sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc. accepted too.

• Housing (new): 

Criteria: 

Legislation prohibits discrimination in the field of housing and gender identity is expressly mentioned. Equivalent ground e.g. sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc. accepted too.

• Equality body mandate: 

Criteria: 

A national human rights institution / equality body is explicitly mandated to work on gender identity in its law/founding documents, or where the national human rights institution / equality body is systematically working on issues covering gender identity. Equivalent grounds (sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc.) are accepted too.

Equality action plan: covers action plans, which expressly include gender identity, and include specific measures for progress. Equivalent grounds (sexual identity, gender reassignment, etc.) accepted too. A full point is awarded when the action plan entails or is followed up with the following measures:

• Detailed projects or initiatives within the time span
• Allocation of resources (financial or human resources)
• Clear responsibilities for proper implementation
• Setup of monitoring procedure.

A half point is awarded when a part of these criteria are met.

Law (gender expression): Legislation prohibits discrimination and expressly includes gender expression.

• Depathologisation:

Criteria: 

A point is awarded if all of the following criteria are met:

• No mental health diagnosis relating to trans identities in national clinical classification standards or equivalent; neither for adults/ adolescents nor for pre-puberty children
• Access to and cost coverage for trans-specific healthcare (TSHC) for adults/ adolescents is possible without requiring a mental health assessment or diagnosis. 

• Access to and cost coverage for support services for pre-puberty trans and gender variant children is ensured without requesting a diagnosis of “Gender Incongruence in Childhood” (ICD11) or equivalent.
• Conversion therapy prohibited:

Criteria: 

There are legal or policy measures in place prohibiting reparative or conversion therapy that is practiced against trans people.

• Parenthood Recognition (new):

Criteria: 

A trans parent’s legal gender and name are recognized in their child’s birth certificate (or other documentation of kinship) and “mother” or “father” are used according to the parent’s legal gender.

• Non-binary parenthood recognition (new):

Criteria: 

A point is awarded if: 

• Regulations regarding recognition of parenthood can be aligned with available gender options where more than two gender markers are available, i.e. non-binary parents are able to be recognized as “parent” on their child’s birth certificate or other documentation of kinship; or
• All parents are recorded as “parent”.