TRANS ADVOCACY WEEK 2021: IN SUPPORT OF THE IE SOGI REPORT ON GENDER

During the 47th 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, the UN Transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More Advocacy Week 2021 partners made a statement in support of the IE SOGI’s report “The Law of Inclusion” in an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (IE SOGI), Victor Madrigal-Borloz.

This report is released at a time of increased hostility towards trans communities around the world, stemming from anti-trans feminist and LGB activists, as well as right-wing or conservative civil, political, and religious groups, media outlets, and States.

These actors have been advocating for a rollback or complete erasure of the human rights of trans people, including calling for the legalisation of conversion therapy for trans people (recognised as a form of torture by the UN), preventing access to bathrooms and single-sex spaces (in particular, targetting trans women), and general anti-trans rhetoric that attempts to re-pathologise trans people (going against the 2018 World Health Assembly decision to remove trans people from the Chapter on Mental and Behavioural Disorders).

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the 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, stigma, and violence faced by trans and gender-diverse people worldwide, with gender-segregated lockdown policies making it impossible for trans people living in countries without legal gender recognitionlaws, administrative procedures or processes by which a person can change their sex/gender marker and names on official identity documents. More to leave their homes without facing harrassment, violence, and detention.

The report released by the IE SOGIabbreviation standing for sexual orientation and gender identity More is an important step forward for trans rights globally. We are confident that it will contribute to strengthening an intersectional, inclusive, and holistic understanding of genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More justice, and will provide a basis upon which State policies that promote trans rights and greater inclusion of trans communities in society can be built.

Please see the full statement below, delivered by the Swedish Federation of 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 Rights – RFSL on behalf of Trans Advocacy Week 2021 partners.

STATEMENT

Madam President,

Throughout the world, trans people continue to face disproportionate levels of violence and systemic discrimination. Trans women, in particular, face high levels of violence, which often go unchallenged, uninvestigated, and unpunished. Working towards the safety, security, well-being, and development of trans people must remain a priority. We share the Independent Expert’s analysis that gender and 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 are firmly established categories in international human rights lawa legal system laying down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights – including by putting into place domestic measures and legislation. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual complaints or communications are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are respected. More. They complement each other and are both crucial to achieve gender justice.

We reiterate that safeguarding the rights of trans and gender diverse people does not come at the expense of any other group as human rights are indivisible, interlinked, and inalienable.  Our understanding is informed by intersectional feminist movements that foster synergies between women in all their diversity, standing together with trans and gender-diverse people in our collective struggle for equality and inclusion.

Trans Advocacy Week 2021 welcomes the Independent Expert’s recommendations to member states on gender self-determination, legal gender recognition and the rights of trans and gender-diverse minors. We express our gratitude to Mr. Madrigal-Borloz and his team, and we are committed to supporting the mandate in future.”