Twelve United Nations agencies issued an unprecedented call today to end violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) adults, adolescents and children.
A joint statement said cultural, religious and moral practices and beliefs and social attitudes “cannot be invoked to justify human rights violations against any group, including LGBTI persons”, because human rights are universal.
Governments bear the primary duty under international law to protect LGBTI persons. “All people have an equal right to live free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma. International human rights law establishes legal obligations on States to ensure that every person, without distinction, can enjoy these rights.”
The agencies said they were “seriously concerned that around the world, millions of LGBTI individuals, (and) those perceived as LGBTI and their families face widespread human rights violations. This is cause for alarm – and action”.
In 76 countries, laws still criminalize consensual same-sex relationships between adults and the death penalty is used in at least five countries. The penal laws expose individuals to the risk of arbitrary arrest, prosecution and imprisonment.
Children face bullying, discrimination or expulsion from schools on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, or that of their parents. LGBTI youth rejected by their families experience disproportionate levels of suicide, homelessness and food insecurity.
LGBTI people face widespread discrimination and exclusion in all contexts – including multiple forms of discrimination based on other factors such as sex, race, ethnicity, age, religion, poverty, migration, disability and health status.
“This is the first time that so many members of the UN family have joined forces in defense of the basic rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people,” said Charles Radcliffe, a top official at the UN Human Rights Office.
The extraordinary joint statement highlighted the link between human rights abuses against LGBTI people and ill health, family break-up, social and economic exclusion and lost opportunities for development and economic growth.
It set out specific steps that Governments, in particular, should take to curb violence and protect individuals from discrimination. They include measures to improve the investigation and reporting of hate crimes, torture and ill-treatment.
Governments should also prohibit discrimination and review and repeal all laws used to arrest, punish or discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
The 12 UN agencies work across a wide range of areas – from human rights to health, education, employment, development, children’s rights, gender equality, food security and refugees. They hope the statement will provide a blueprint to governments and UN teams working in countries around the world.
This blunt statement builds upon years of investigation by UN agencies and others. They have documented widespread physical and psychological violence against LGBTI persons in all regions – including murder, assault, kidnapping, rape and sexual violence.
They also reported torture and ill-treatment in institutional settings and found that LGBTI youth and lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are at particular risk of physical, psychological and sexual violence in family and community settings.
Laws criminalizing cross-dressing are used to arrest and punish transgender people. Other laws are used to harass, detain, discriminate or place restrictions on the freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
These discriminatory laws contribute to perpetuating stigma and discrimination, as well as hate crime, police abuse, torture and ill-treatment, family and community violence, and negatively affect public health by impeding access to health and HIV services.
LGBTI persons often face violence and discrimination when seeking refuge from persecution and in humanitarian emergencies. They may also face abuse in medical settings, including unethical and harmful so-called “therapies” to change sexual orientation, forced or coercive sterilization, forced genital and anal examinations, and unnecessary surgery and treatment on intersex children without their consent.
“The response to these violations is inadequate in many countries. They are underreported and often not properly investigated and prosecuted, leading to widespread impunity and lack of justice, remedies and support for victims. Human rights defenders combatting these violations are frequently persecuted and face discriminatory restrictions on their activities,” the statement said.
Discrimination and violence contribute to the marginalization of LGBTI people and their vulnerability to ill health including HIV infection, yet they face denial of care and discrimination in medical and other settings.
Transgender people are frequently denied legal recognition of their preferred gender or face abusive requirements such as forced sterilization, treatment or divorce to obtain it, without which they suffer exclusion and marginalization.
The exclusion of LGBTI people from the design, implementation and monitoring of laws and policies that affect them perpetuates their social and economic marginalization.
The 12 UN entities are: the International Labour Organization (ILO); the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Secretariat; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF); the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); UN Women; the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).