HRC SESSION 46 (FEBRUARY – MARCH 2021) – ILGA WORLD’S ENGAGEMENT
HRC 46 – 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Geneva, 22 February to 23 March 2021
ILGA World’s involvement at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC)
Reports:
- summary of SOGIESC remarks during the high-level segment at the 46th Human Rights Councilan inter-governmental body within the United Nations which has the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. It is comprised of 47 member States, each elected to 3-year terms by the 193 member States of the United Nations. More session
In this section:
- Biennal high-level panel discussion on the issue of the death penalty
- Item 2 – General debate
- Item 3 – Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of people with disabilities
- Item 4 – General debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention
- Item 5 – General debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms (forum on minority issues)
- Item 9 – General debate on racism, racial discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance
- Item 10 – General debate on technical assistanve and capacity building
- Intersectional human rights framework: LGBTIacronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Although this is not the acronym available to describe people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics, it is the most commonly used in United Nations spaces and advocacy. More and disability
- Bulgaria
- Honduras
- Liberia
- Panama
- United States
Statements at the HRC
BIENNIAL HIGH-LEVEL PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE ISSUE OF THE DEATH PENALTY
The 46th UN Human Rights Council held its high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty. In a joint statement with Choice for Youth and Outright Action International, we called on States to abolish the death penalty, which continues to be used also “to punish consensual sexrefers to the classification of a person as male, female, or other - usually made at birth, written on a birth certificate, and usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person’s sex, however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. More, love and intimacy between same-sex adults, as well as sex work or sex outside of marriage.”
Click here to read the statement.
ITEM 2 – GENERAL DEBATE
In this joint statement – delivered with Outright Action International, RFSL and ISHR, we highlighted how lesbianadjective/noun to describe a woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves. More, gayadjective to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional
attractions are to people of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this
term to describe themselves. More, bisexualadjective used to describe a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of other genders. More, transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More and intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against. More persons have been among the groups suffering disproportionate impacts from the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic.
Click here to read the statement.
ITEM 3 – GENERAL DEBATE
During the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of People with Disabilities, we highlighted how “ableism, combined with prejudice against LGBTI people, contributes to stigmatisation of our bodies, minds, sexualities, genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More identities and expressions.” The statement was delivered by Margherita Coppolino and prepared in consultation with ILGA Oceania and Matthew Bowden.
Click here to read the full statement.
ITEM 4 – GENERAL DEBATE ON HUMAN RICHTS SITUATIONS THAT REQUIRE THE COUNCIL’S ATTENTION
Myanmar, Ghana, Turkey, Honduras are just some of the countries where we have witnessed human rights violations against LGBTI people in the past few months. We urged the UN Human Rights Council to take action on protecting the human rights of LGBTI people across the regions.
Click here to read the full statement.
ITEM 5 GENERAL DEBATE ON HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES AND MECHANISMS (FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES)
LGBTI people are among the populations who are particularly vulnerable to hate speechany kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour that attacks or uses
pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who
they are – including on the grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and
expression, or sex characteristics amongst others. More on social media platforms. The continued harassment aims at intimidating our communities back into silence and hampers access to the digital world. During this general debate, we discussed the Forum on Minority Issues’ recommendations to tackle hate speech on social media.
Click here to read the full statement.
ITEM 9 – GENERAL DEBATE RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED FORMS OF INTOLERANCE
In this joint statement together with ILGA-Europe, we pointed out how Covid-19 is exacerbating the structural inequalities and racism that prevail in many regions of the world, and that is the legacy of decades of slavery and colonialism.
Click here to read the full statement.
ITEM 10 GENERAL DEBATE – TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
During the 46th UN Human Rights Council, we shared the latest examples of good practices and progressive measures taken to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons’ rights: the new penal code of Angola decriminalising consensual same-sex relations, New Zealand committing to boost mental health services for LGBTI youth, and more.
Click here to read the full statement.
Side events
INTERSECTIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORK: LGBTI AND DISABILITY
The event exploreed specific challenges faced by LGBTI persons with disabilities, map the gaps in their human rights protection, and identify possible ways to ensure the full protection of LGBTI persons with disabilities’ human rights.
The debate featured UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Gerard Quinn, UN Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More and gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More Victor Madrigal-Borloz, and human rights defenders working on intersections of SOGIESCabbreviation standing for sexual orientation and gender identity & expression, and sex characteristics. More and disability.
Adoption of UPR outcomes
BULGARIA
In a statement drafted in consultation with the Bulgarian LGBTI organization “DEYSTVIE”, we thanked the States which made 14 recommendations to the Bulgarian Government during the Universal Periodic Review with respect to rights of the LGBTI community in the country. Nine of these recommendations urged the State to amend the Penal Code of Bulgaria to include criminalisation of LGBTI-based hate crimes.
Click here to read the full statement.
HONDURAS
In this statement, drafted in consultation with Red Lésbica Cattrachas, we pointed out how Honduras received 16 recommendations on SOGIESC issues during its latest Universal Periodic Review. The country has the highest rate of violent LGBTI deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a 91% of impunity, and the population faces constitutional and legal limitations based on sexual orientation, gender expressionrefers to how a person presents their gender through physical appearance – including dress, hairstyles, accessories, cosmetics – and mannerisms, speech, behavioural patterns, names and personal references. More and gender identity.
Click here to read the full statement.
LIBERIA
In this statement, made in consultation with the Transgender Network of Liberia and with LEGAL Association Liberia, we regretted that Liberia noted all the recommendations it received on SOGIESC issues during the latest Universal Periodic Review.
Click here to read the full statement.
PANAMA
In this statement, made in consultation with CIMUF, we welcome the 18 recommendations made to Panama on LGBTI issues on the latest Universal Review for the country, but regretted that Panama only accepted 4 of them.
Click here to read the full statement.
UNITED STATES
In a statement prepared with Human Rights Campaign, we highlighted how “despite significant steps, LGBTQ individuals in the United States still lack basic legal protections in many jurisdictions”, raising awareness of the “national crisis” that is the current epidemic of violence against trans people.
Click here to read the full statement.
