Join ILGA World,  RFSL and Outright International, with the support of UN Women and Office of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, for a side event at the 62nd UN Human Rights Council to spotlight severe forms of discrimination faced by LBQ women globally, examine their root causes and material consequences, and identify concrete pathways for stronger protection, accountability, and inclusion within UN and national frameworks.

At the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, the UN Human Rights Council will receive, for the first time, a dedicated thematic report by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, focusing specifically on violence and discrimination experienced by LBQ women.

This represents a critical milestone and unique opportunity to consolidate evidence, elevate LBQ voices, influence State responses and follow-up action, and include LBQ women in multilateral agendas.

Location: Room IX, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Event language(s): English
Date: Friday, 19 June 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Central European Time (time where you are based: see here)

 

 

Lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women experience distinct and severe forms of discrimination and violence that remain insufficiently recognized within international human rights laws and frameworks.

These include targeted sexual and physical violence, so-called “corrective” rape, so-called “conversion therapies”, forced marriage, family and community-based violence, and intersecting forms of discrimination linked to race, class, disability, migration status, and other intersecting factors.

These violations are embedded within broader structural forms of violence and discrimination, including socioeconomic violence and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, which further deepen instances of discrimination and barriers to justice.

At its most extreme, this violence culminates in killings of LBQ women, often described as “lesbicide”, a manifestation of intersecting misogyny, lesbophobia, and biphobia that remains largely under-recognized and under-addressed.

Despite growing attention to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics in international human rights law, LBQ women’s lived realities continue to be underrepresented, often falling between gender equality and broader LGBTIQ frameworks. This invisibility is not incidental but systemic, resulting from data gaps, heteronormative policy frameworks, and the exclusion of LBQ experiences from both gender-based violence and broader LGBTIQ responses, including in multilateral fora. 

Building on this momentum, this side event will spotlight severe forms of discrimination faced by LBQ women globally, examine their root causes and material consequences, and identify concrete pathways for stronger protection, accountability, and inclusion within UN and national frameworks.

This panel discussion will take place on 19  June 2026 at the 62nd UN Human Rights Council, and our side event will provide an important forum for discussion between the UN, diplomatic community and civil society organisations ahead of it.

Our side event will

• • centre LBQ voices and evidence: Amplify testimonies, community-generated data, and lived experiences from diverse regional contexts
  • expose severe forms of human rights violations: Highlight patterns of extreme violence and discrimination against LBQ women, including under-documented and normalised abuses
  • examine the material consequences of violence, including economic marginalisation, homelessness, health impacts, and long-term constraints on autonomy and life choices
  • bridge policy gaps: Examine why LBQ women remain insufficiently addressed in both gender equality and LGBTIQ policy frameworks, and remain at the margins of multilateral discussions
  • leverage the IE SOGI report moment: Engage Member States’ responses to the report and identify opportunities to shape follow-up recommendations, resolutions, and national implementation.

Panelists:

• Graeme Reid, UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
• Adriana Quiñones, UN Women Chief, Human Rights and Nondiscrimination Section
• Hannah Wu, OHCHR, Chief of Women’s Rights and Gender Section
• Andrea Ayala, RFSL (moderator)