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HRC SESSION 44 (JUN-JUL 2020) – ILGA WORLD’S ENGAGEMENT

HRC 44 – 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Geneva,  30 June – 20 July 2020
ILGA’s involvement at the 44th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC)

 

Reports:

In this section:

Statements at the HRC

  • Item 2 – Interactive Dialogue on the Annual Report of the High Commissioner
  • Item 3 – Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Sogi (‘Conversion therapy’)
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Sogi (‘Corrective Rape’ As A Form Of ‘Conversion therapy’)
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Sogi (Trans Advocacy Week on ‘Conversion therapy’)
  • Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Sogi (on the outcomes of the country visit to Ukraine)
  • Item 9 – Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

Side events

  • Intersex Rights at the Human Rights Council
  • Banning conversion therapies – Protecting LGBTI persons from harmful practices

Statements at the HRC

ITEM 2 – INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE ON THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER

In this joint statement with ARC International, COC Nederland, ISHR, Outright Action International and RFSL, we welcome the recognition by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights of specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTI persons, and the report  on race and gender discrimination in sports – calling for states to adopt legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sex characteristics.

Click here to read the statement

 

ITEM 3 – PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

In this joint statement we drew the attention of the Human Rights Counciil to the human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons and those that defend their rights in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Click here to read the statement

 

ITEM 4 – INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

In this joint statement with COC Nederland and ILGA World (prepared in consultation with the Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community, Bilitis Resource Center Foundation, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, GLAS Foundation, Single Step Foundation, and Fundación Mujer y Mujer) we addressed the problem LBTI women journalists in Bulgaria and Ecuador.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 5 – INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE WORKING GROUP ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

In this statement, we highlighted how LBTI women are vulnerable in work settings, as only 40% of states protect on grounds of sexual orientation in employment, and how COVID-19 particularly affected women.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 6 – INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON SOGI (‘CONVERSION THERAPY’)

In this joint statement with ILGA-Europe we emphasized the recommendation to adopt legal measures against “conversion therapy” included in the independent expert’s report, calling on policy makers to take into account that these practices have the potential of leading people to extreme anxiety, depression and suicide.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 7: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON SOGI (‘CORRECTIVE RAPE’ AS A FORM OF ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’)

In this statement, we addressed how lesbian, bisexual and queer women are disproportionally subjected to rapes intended to “correct” (‘corrective rape’) their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 8: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON SOGI (TRANS ADVOCACY WEEK ON ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’)

In this statement, released jointly with our Trans Advocacy Week partners, we highlighted how trans and gender non-conforming people are still required to produce mental health diagnoses to access legal gender recognition and gender affirming healthcare.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 9: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON SOGI (ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE COUNTRY VISIT TO UKRAINE)

In this statement relesed with COC Nederland, and prepared in consultation with the Public Organization ‘Insight’ and LGBT Human Rights Centre ‘Nash Mir’, we expressed concern for the increase of attacks against LGBTI communities by right-wing radicals in Ukraine.
Click here to read the statement or watch the video below

 

ITEM 10 – RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED FORMS OF INTOLERANCE, FOLLOW-UP AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DURBAN DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION

In this joint statement with Race and Equality, we drew the Human Rights Council’s attention to the situation of racial injustice and police brutality that affects Black and Brown persons including those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) worldwide.

Click here to read the statement

 

Side events

Intersex rights at the Human Rights Council

Tuesday 14 July, 13:30 PM [CEST]
The side event, taking place during the 44th session of the Human Rights Council, seeks to discuss human rights violations against intersex persons, unpack the mechanisms that lead to discrimination and violence of intersex persons in all spheres of life – including in sports, and discuss possible ways forward towards better and more specific protections on persons with diverse sex characteristics in the international human rights framework. Learn more.

Banning conversion therapies – Protecting LGBTI persons from harmful practices

Wednesday 15 July, 15:00 PM [CEST]
In his report the Independent Expert on SOGI defined conversion therapy as “an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which are premised on the belief that a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, including gender expression, can and should be changed or suppressed when they do not fall under what other actors in a given setting and time perceive as the desirable norm, in particular when the person is lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse.” Learn more.