1g. bijlage - Practices of so-called conversion therapy.pdf

A/HRC/44/53*

United Nations

General Assembly

Distr.: General 1 May 2020 Original: English

Human Rights Council Forty-fourth session 15 June–3 July 2020 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Practices of so-called “conversion therapy” Report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity** Summary The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolutions 32/2 and 41/18. In it, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, explores practices of so-called “conversion therapy” across the globe, including their impact on victims, their human rights implications and their connection with violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as measures adopted to prevent them and to penalize or prosecute those who perform them and remedies provided to victims.

* Reissued for technical reasons on 9 July 2020. ** Agreement was reached to publish the present report after the standard publication date owing to circumstances beyond the submitter’s control.

GE.20-06294(E)



A/HRC/44/53

I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, in furtherance of Human Rights Council resolutions 32/2 and 41/18, and covers the period from 1 May 2019 to 30 April 2020. 2. The report also reflects the Independent Expert’s research on practices known as socalled “conversion therapy” (see para. 17 below), the proponents and providers of which seek to change non-heteronormative sexual orientations and non-cisnormative gender identities. The analysis is focused on the impact of those practices on the people who are subjected to them, the human rights implications of those practices and their connection with violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as the related measures of prevention, accountability and redress.

II. Activities carried out during the reporting period 3. The Independent Expert is committed to active engagement with the widest scope of stakeholders and trusts that all dialogue has the following as a point of departure: violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are never justified and must be prevented and condemned. 4. The Independent Expert held public consultations on thematic issues in Geneva on 26 June 2019 and 5 February 2020 and an expert meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, on 28 February 2020. 5. The Independent Expert conducted a country visit to Ukraine from 30 April to 10 May 2019, and intended to carry out a visit to Sri Lanka, which was unfortunately postponed due to force majeure. He thanks both States for the invitation and collaboration he received. He sent visit requests to Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Poland, Thailand and Tunisia. In addition, at the invitation of the University of Iceland, he carried out a visit to Reykjavik from 2 to 4 September 2019, during which he delivered a keynote speech on social inclusion at the Nordic House, carried out a working session with the Directors of Human Rights of the Nordic and Baltic countries and met with Icelandic political and religious authorities and Icelandic civil society organizations. 6.

On the margins of his interactive dialogue at the Human Rights Council and the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly, he held meetings and consultations with Member States, representatives of United Nations entities, representatives of civil society and business leaders. In August, September and December 2019 he met with representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS) LGBTI Core Group in Washington, D.C., the United Nations LGBTI Core Group and the Equal Rights Coalition in New York, regional groups in Geneva, and held many bilateral exchanges with Member States. 7. At the invitation of the respective Special Rapporteurs, the Independent Expert took part in two expert meetings: in Tunis, on 11 June 2019, on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality; and in New York, on 22 October 2019, on cultural rights defenders.

At the invitation of United Nations entities, the Independent Expert took part in several meetings: on 29 and 30 June 2019, on engaging the private sector for the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights); on 9 July 2019, on data privacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons in cyberspace (United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)); and, on 15 July 2019, on gender diversity beyond binaries (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)), the United Nations Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Employees (UN-GLOBE) and OutRight Action International). The Independent Expert also held formal exchanges with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls on 5 June 2019 and 30 January 2020, with the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises on 6 February 2020, and with the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights on 5 March 2020. 2

A/HRC/44/53

8. Together with the Rapporteur on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and as part of a strategic alliance between both mandate holders, Commonwealth and UNDP, on 1 and 2 October 2019, the Independent Expert held a consultation in Bridgetown on the economic, social and cultural inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex persons in the Caribbean region. 9. Between 1 May and 31 December 2019, at the invitation of academia and civil society organizations, the Independent Expert carried out the following activities: (a) Keynote addresses. 21 August (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Asia Regional Conference, Seoul); 24 September (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, Vienna); 20 November (National Meeting of the Afro-LGBTI Network, Cartagena); 21 November (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean Conference, Bogotá); 7 December (OutRight Action International Conference, New York); 10 December (ARC International and Jindal Global University International Dialogue, New Delhi); and 13 December (National Law School of India University, Bangalore); (b) Panels and presentations.

27 June on needs, best practices and risks of research and data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and COC Nederland, Geneva); 23 October (Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, New York); 18 November (Dejusticia and Colombia Diversa, Bogotá), and 6 December (OutRight Action International, New York). 10. Between 1 January and 30 April 2020, the Independent Expert carried out the following activities: (a) Keynote addresses. 20 January (United Nations House, Brasilia); 24 January (International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); and 2 March (Global Equality Fund, Johannesburg, South Africa); (b) Panels and presentations. 13 January (Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts); 22 January (International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Salvador, Brazil); 10 February (OAS, Washington, D.C.); and 12 February (Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts). 11. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization made the assessment that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak could be characterized as a pandemic.

From that date, as a result of the global state of force majeure created by the COVID-19 crisis, activities requiring travel by or the physical presence of the Independent Expert were postponed or cancelled. 12. During the reporting period, the Independent Expert gave more than 30 in-depth interviews for television, radio and print media and issued essays and op-eds relevant to the mandate. He also issued 18 individual or joint official press releases and media statements and developed an active social media presence. 13. The Independent Expert sent 16 communications, individually or jointly, in which allegations of human rights violations in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity were raised and/or by which he sought to provide technical advice on legislation and policies. 14. The Independent Expert is indebted to the vast group of entities, organizations and individuals that significantly contributed to the furtherance of the mandate during the reporting period.

III. Methodology 15. For the preparation of the present report, the Independent Expert carried out an extensive literature review and outreach measures. On 21 November 2019, he issued a call

3

A/HRC/44/53

for written submissions, in response to which he received 33 contributions from Member States, including national human rights institutions, and 99 from civil society organizations, academics, medical practitioners, faith-based leaders, parliamentarians and individuals. 1 On 5 February 2020, he held a public consultation in Geneva and, on 29 February 2020, he convened a meeting of experts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 16. Given their import, written submissions will be posted on the webpage of the Independent Expert, 2 with the exception of those for which the authors have requested confidentiality. He is concerned about the lack of information received from certain regions. Given the persuasive evidence that practices of “conversion therapy”, including its most heinous forms, exist in every corner of the world, the Independent Expert is perplexed by the lack of interest of certain States in engaging in a process that was designed to address an issue that deeply damages millions of persons under their jurisdictions.

IV. Overview 17. “Conversion therapy” is used 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. Such practices are therefore consistently aimed at effecting a change from non-heterosexual to heterosexual and from trans or gender diverse to cisgender. Depending on the context, the term is used for a multitude of practices and methods, some of which are clandestine and therefore poorly documented. 3 18. During his country visits and other dialogue activities, the Independent Expert heard many testimonies of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons subjected to those practices. In Mozambique, he heard accounts from persons subjected to exorcisms by churches or traditional healers and to so-called “corrective” rapes arranged by the families of lesbian women, the community, authorities in faith-based organizations or traditional healers.

Similarly, in Ukraine, he met with a 16-year-old gay young person who had been sent by his parents to a psychologist for treatment and to a priest to express repentance, forced to cut all contact with his brother and his friends, ousted from the family home, deprived of his livelihood and threatened with violence and death. The young man, exhausted but determined and resilient, had finally decided to make his family believe that he had changed – until such time as he could freely make his own life decisions. 19. The Independent Expert has been particularly struck by the resilience of those persons whom he has met with and by the extent to which their lives were marked by those practices. The attempts to pathologize and erase the identity of individuals, negate their existence as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse and provoke self-loathing have profound consequences on their physical and psychological integrity and well-being. In recent global studies, many respondents spoke of the profound damage resulting from being subjected to “conversion therapy”, including in a survey with 8,000 respondents from 100 countries, in which a staggering 98 per cent of the 940 persons who reported having undergone those practices testified to having suffered damage.

When asked to report the main consequence of the practice, 4.5 per cent of the victims reported suicidal thoughts, and other main forms of consequential damage reported were permanent physical harm (1.8 per

1

Statistical information available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientationGender/Pages/ ReportOnPracticesOfConversion.aspx. 2 Submissions to the Independent Expert are available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientation Gender/Pages/SubmissionsReportPracticesConversion.aspx. 3 Submission by the Global Interfaith Network for People of All Sexes, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression.

4

A/HRC/44/53

cent of victims), suicidal attempts (2.9 per cent), depression (5.9 per cent), anxiety (6.3 per cent), shame (6.1 per cent), self-hatred (4.1 per cent) and loss of faith (3.5 per cent).4 20. The term “therapy”, derived from the Greek, denotes “healing”. Practices of “conversion therapy” are however the contrary, relying on the medically false pathologization of sexual orientation and gender identity, manifested through interventions that inflict severe pain and suffering and result in psychological and physical damage. In 2012, the Pan American Health Organization noted that “conversion therapies” had no medical justification and represented a severe threat to the health and human rights of the affected persons,5 and in 2016, the World Psychiatric Association found that “there is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed”,6 conclusions supported by the consensus of professional associations around the world. 7 21. It is generally unethical for health-care professionals to purport to treat anything that is not a disorder, 8 and they are compelled by the “do no harm” principle not to offer treatments that are recognized as ineffective or purport to achieve unattainable results.

9 For those and other reasons, the Independent Forensic Expert Group of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, a group of preeminent international medicolegal specialists from 23 countries, has declared that offering “conversion therapy” is a form of deception, false advertising and fraud. 10 22. The pathologization of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities is the result of historical processes, as previously identified by the Independent Expert (see A/73/152). 11 In the late 19th century, scientists began to scrutinize – and eventually classified as illnesses – behaviours considered morally unacceptable, including homosexuality and transvestism, 12 and theorized possible cures for them. Most schools within psychology and psychiatry, bolstered by the mental disorder classifications of the 1940s to early 1970s, operated as providers of “conversion therapy”.13 23. From the mid-20th century, sexual and gender diversity began to be recognized as part of the normal range of human development,14 a process that gained coherence with their removal as mental health diagnoses under international classifications. 15 Understanding of and opposition to the often severe physical and psychological harm caused by practices of “conversion therapy” also began to increase.

Submission by LGBT Foundation. See also OutRight Action International, “Harmful treatment: the global reach of so-called conversion therapy”, 2019. Available at outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 5 See www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=17703. 6 See https://3ba346de-fde6-473f-b1da-98661f9c.filesusr.com/ugd/e172f3_e7d4dac33acd 4000921b942f7ec70df0. pdf. 7 See www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2816%2900013-1; http://media.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/other/APA_position_conversion%20therapy.pdf; www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response.pdf; and Lucas Ramón Mendos (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association World), “Curbing deception: a world survey on legal regulation of so-called ‘conversion therapies’”, 2020 Available at ilga.org/Conversiontherapy-global-research-ILGA-World. 8 See www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5032493/. 9 See www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-geneva/; and www.wma.net/policies-post/wmainternational-code-of-medical-ethics/. 10 See www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X20300366. 11 See also www.researchgate.net/publication/282671297_The_legacy_of_medicalising _’homosexuality’_A_discussion_on_the_historical_effects_of_non-heterosexual_diagnostic_ classifications.

12 Jack Drescher, “Queer diagnoses: parallels and contrasts in the history of homosexuality, gender variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual”, Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 39. 13 See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. 14 Carl G. Streed and others., “Changing medical practice, not patients - putting an end to conversion therapy”, The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 381. 15 A/73/152, paras. 10–16. 4

5

A/HRC/44/53

A.

Current state of the practices 24. A recent desk review of available public reports found sources indicating that practices of “conversion therapy” occur in at least 68 countries;16 similarly, several surveys yielded testimonies of its existence in all regions of the world, 17 with a majority of respondents in one survey answering that they were “very common” in Africa and “somewhat common” in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Asia.18 In a study conducted in 2018 in the United States, researchers concluded that 698,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender-diverse adults between 18 and 59 years of age, and almost 20 per cent of trans adults who had ever spoken to a professional about their gender identity, had been subjected to such a practice at some point of their life; 19 in another recent study, at least 10 organizations in Australia and New Zealand were found to currently advertise the practice.20

B.

Promoters and providers 25. Subjection to practices known as “conversion therapy” is the result of a complex series of relations between stakeholders surrounding the victim. The honour of the family was cited as a main driver in Asia, 21 and a conclusion in a global survey t was that, among the group of 1,480 persons who reported having been subjected to practices of “conversion therapy”, 21.9 per cent reported that family members coerced the victim, 11.9 per cent reported coercion by religious leaders, 11 per cent by members of the surrounding communities and 9.7 per cent by mental health practitioners. A particularly worrying finding is that 3.6 per cent reported coercion from their employers, 5 per cent from school authorities and 4 per cent from State authorities. 22 Misconceptions among the general public remain a major issue; in Lebanon, around 79 per cent of respondents to a survey indicated that homosexuality was a “hormonal sickness” and that homosexuals should be taken in for psychological or hormonal treatment. 23 At the systemic level, leaders of faith-based organizations and political authorities have endorsed the practice in countries as diverse as Colombia, Israel, the Philippines, Uganda and the United States. 24 26.

Reportedly, children most often undergo practices of “conversion therapy” as a result of the desire of parents or guardians to have them conform to expectations, either theirs or their communities’, regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. 25 Children and adolescents often lack the legal authority to make medical or mental health decisions, 26 and, in instances where they have the right to consent or to refuse treatment, they are especially prone to undue influence or coercion, particularly from family members or others in a position of authority.27

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, “It’s torture not therapy: a global overview of conversion therapy: practices, perpetrators, and the role of States”, 2020. Available from irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027. 17 Submission by LGBT Foundation. 18 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 19 See https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/conversion-therapy-and-lgbt-youth/; and https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2749479. 20 See https://static1.squarespace.com/static/580025f66b8f5b2dabbe4291/ t/5bd78764eef1a1ba57990efe/1540851637658/LGBT+conversion+therapy+in+Australia+v2.pdf. 21 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 22 Submission by LGBT Foundation. 23 See http://afemena.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Report-high-resolution.pdf. 24 See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. 25 See www.minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Rachmilovitz_MLR.pdf; and www.utah.gov/pmn/files/513643.pdf. 26 Submission by Choice for Youth and Sexuality. 27 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. See also www.utah.gov/pmn/files/513643.pdf. 16

6

A/HRC/44/53

27. It is confirmed in an abundance of the literature that mental health professionals continue to carry out such practices, for example in China, the Republic of Korea, 28 the United States29 and countries in Eastern Europe.30 In China, a randomized survey found that roughly 50 per cent of “conversion” agents were public hospitals.31 Roughly one third of some 1,000 mental health professionals interviewed in a study carried out in China said that being gay was a form of mental illness and that they regarded practices of “conversion therapy” as effective.32 28. In a recent global survey, a total of 1,641 survivors of practices of “conversion therapy” identified main perpetrators. Medical and mental health providers were identified as the main perpetrators in 45.8 per cent of cases, religious authorities, traditional healers and groups in 18.9 per cent, conversion camps and rehabilitation centres in 8.5 per cent and parents in 6.9 per cent. State authorities – such as police, military and other entities – accounted for 4.4 per cent of cases, and school authorities in 4.4 per cent.33 29.

Perpetration of the practice may be the result of a coalition between those groups; in Ghana, Christian, Muslim and traditionalist organizations have reportedly created a coalition to articulate their views on what is the correct stance on human sexuality and to offer practices of “conversion therapy”, including treatment in a teaching hospital in Accra.34 In a recent inspection carried out by State and non-State entities of centres that used those practices in Brazil, it was found that all institutions visited had religious practices as a point of reference.35 30. Faith-based organizations and religious authorities in particular operate in a space surrounded by blurred lines, 36 advising the family and victim and often promoting or providing the practices alone or in partnership with others; in a recent survey conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, more than half of the providers were shown to be faith-based organizations (51 per cent).37 In Kenya, a church was found to have been running a programme that used starvation and incessant prayer over the course of three days as its main methods.38 In Nigeria, several churches subject sexually diverse and gender-diverse persons to “deliverance” to set them free of demons that allegedly cause same-sex attraction or influence gender identity.39 31.

In investigating the economics behind practices of “conversion therapy”, the Independent Expert has received persuasive evidence that they are, in many cases, a lucrative business for providers around the world. In the United States, the cost for a single episode of “conversion therapy” may range from no cost to $26,000.00;40 in Ecuador, the

Korean Society of Law and Policy on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, “Human rights situation of LGBTI in South Korea”, 2016. 29 See https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/conversion-therapy-and-lgbt-youth/; and www.utah.gov/pmn/files/513643.pdf. 30 Submission by the Eastern European Coalition for LGBT+ Equality. Such cases have been documented by the Russian LGBT Network. 31 FanFan, “Five years later, who really needs to be ‘corrected’?”, LGBT Rights Advocacy China, public WeChat account, 2019. Available at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5CzIP3b59wZCNoirtc6kzA. 32 Beijing LGBT Center, “Investigation report on attitudes of mental health and psychological counseling practitioners towards minorities”, 2017. 33 Submission by LGBT Foundation. 34 OutRight (2019)See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 35 See www.mpf.mp.br/atuacao-tematica/pfdc/midiateca/nossas-publicacoes/relatorio-da-inspecaonacional-em-comunidades-terapeuticas-2017/view (in Portuguese). 36 See https://static1.squarespace.com/static/580025f66b8f5b2dabbe4291/ t/5bd78764eef1a1ba57990efe/1540851637658/LGBT+conversion+therapy+in+Australia+v2.pdf. 37 See www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-lgbt-survey-summary-report/national-lgbtsurvey-summary-report. 38 OutRight (2019) See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy.

39 See www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainment/naija-fashion/282248-pastors-activists-debate-gayrights-in-nigeria.html. 40 See Annesa Flentje and others, “Sexual reorientation therapy interventions: perspectives of ex-ex-gay individuals”, Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, vol. 17, No. 3. 28

7

A/HRC/44/53

average monthly cost of internment is estimated at $500.00.41 In the Republic of Korea, the cost ranges from less than 30,000 won ($25.88) to more than 30,000,000 won ($25,875.68).42 Marketing mechanisms operate to support the business model.43 The economic dimension is even present in arrangements in which there is no clear fee or monetary compensation, as with informal arrangements between family members and religious leaders that offer some kind of contribution to the group, church or institution without a direct or explicit link to the “conversion therapy” provided. 32. Some States actively perpetrate or promote abuse through practices of “conversion therapy”. Dominica still contemplates psychiatric treatment as the penalty established by law for consensual same-sex sexual acts.44 Elsewhere, State officials, including judges or police officers, may order “conversion therapy”, even in the absence of explicit legal provisions,45 as was allegedly the case in 2019 of the gay and lesbian prison inmates who were forced into such treatment by the Office of the Head of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in West Java province, Indonesia.46 33. Other States are implementing measures through public policy.

Malaysia has adopted several programmes and plans to curb behaviours perceived as immoral, including same-sex behaviour, and specifically promotes practices of “conversion therapy”, 47 including through university programmes, and reports indicate that it supports other practices, including exorcism.48 In February 2018, homosexuality was officially classified as a mental disorder in Indonesia, 49 and, according to information received by the Independent Expert, several officials in West Java province called for policies that would target lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse people for arrest and so-called “rehabilitation”, a policy that motivated an expression of concern from the Independent Expert and other mandate holders.50 That follows a pattern of increasingly discriminatory and pathologizing policies:51 in 2016, several religious councils released a joint statement that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse people could be helped to “get back on track to normalcy” and to eradicate so-called “deviant sexual tendencies”.52 34. In addition, the Independent Expert notes that the criminalization of diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity encourages practices of “conversion therapy”.

C. Persons subjected to practices of “conversion therapy” 35. Research has often focused on practices of “conversion therapy” in relation to sexual orientation, rather than gender identity, and, within the former, on the impact on gay men: of 55 studies reviewed by the American Psychological Association in 2009, 43 were

41

Submission by Pedro Felipe Rivadeneira Orellana. Submission by SungWon Yoon-Lee and Eunhui Yoon. 43 See https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2019.9b9. 44 Dominica, Sexual Offences Act (1998), section 16. 45 See irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027. 46 See www.prison-insider.com/en/articles/indonesie-prison-officials-believe-inmates-are-turning-gayafter-sleeping-next-to-the-same-ex. 47 National strategic plan to end AIDS, 2016–2030, and the action plan to address social ills of LGBT behaviour. See also www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/07/malaysia-health-ministry-propagates-harmfulanti-lgbt-myths. 48 Traditional and complementary medicine blueprint, 2018–2027; Asia Pacific Transgender Network presentation at expert meeting. See also www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/indonesia-lgbtqiconversion-therapy/10576900. 49 In 2016, the Indonesian Psychiatrists Association classified homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexualism as mental disorders that “can be cured through proper treatment”; see www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/24/indonesian-psychiatrists-label-lgbt-mental-disorders.html. 50 See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublic CommunicationFile?gId=24329. 51 Asia Pacific Transgender Network presentation at expert meeting. 52 See www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/18/must-not-support-lgbt-heal-them-religiousleaders.html. 42

8

A/HRC/44/53

exclusively on gay or bisexual men, and only one exclusively on lesbians, a bias that overlooks the impact on lesbian and bisexual women, trans people and gender-diverse persons.53 36. Young people are disproportionally subjected to practices of “conversion therapy”. A recent global survey suggests that 4 out of 5 persons subjected to them were 24 years of age or younger at the time and, of those, roughly half were under 18 years of age. 54

D. Nature of the practices 37. While some of the practices are directly aimed at changing sexual orientation and gender identity, others are aimed at supporting individuals not to act on their same-sex desires. Providers often combine a number of methods and religious interventions with traditional rituals and/or pseudo-medical or mental health consultations, especially when it appears that one type of intervention is not working. In Viet Nam, there are reports of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse people being sent to traditional healers, while at the same time receiving psychiatric treatment.55 In the United Republic of Tanzania, reports indicate that medical approaches and traditional approaches are practised, often in conjunction with circumcision rites and religious worship. 56 38. Victims may suffer treatment of heinous physical and psychological violence in institutions and in the context of programmes carrying out practices of “conversion therapy”. Accounts of lesbian women being shackled, beaten, subjected to force-feeding or food deprivation, forced nudity, isolation and solitary confinement, restrained for days and raped in so-called “clinics” in Ecuador were reported by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2015.57 39. Practices of sexual violence carried out in other contexts have also been linked to alleged intentions of conversion.

The evidence base available to the Independent Expert depicts a harrowing picture of pervasive rape – grotesquely called “corrective” – and other forms of sexual violence against lesbian, bisexual and trans women in all regions of the world, including in India,58 Nigeria59 and South Africa,60 and against gay and trans men in settings such as Kenya.61 In a recent global survey, over 870 persons who had experienced such heinous methods provided additional examples for this catalogue of human misery: detention or imprisonment, physical abuse, kidnapping and forced pregnancy. 62 Similarly, coercive anal examinations may be used to punish individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and to police their sexual orientation. 63 Practices of “conversion” are often combined with other mechanisms of family or community-based coercion. The loss of financial means, dedication to activities seen as gender-specific, excessive exercise and the promotion of same-sex bonding are used in some 20 per cent of recently reported cases, and they can be just as harmful in their impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and genderdiverse young people: as previously reported by the Independent Expert, they are disproportionately affected by homelessness resulting from religious and cultural 53

See www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response.pdf. See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 55 See www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/Research%20&%20Publications/hiv_aids/rbap-hhd-2014blia-viet-nam-country-report.pdf. 56 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 57 See www.reuters.com/article/ecuador-lgbt-rights/feature-gays-in-ecuador-raped-and-beaten-in-rehabclinics-to-cure-them-idUSL8N1P03QO; Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas”, 2015, para. 200; and Submission by Pedro Felipe Rivadeneira Orellana. 58 Submission by Choice for Youth and Sexuality. 59 Ibid. 60 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 61 Submission by Choice for Youth and Sexuality. 62 Submission by LGBT Foundation. 63 See https://irct.org/assets/uploads/Vol%2026%20No%202%20Statement %20on%20anal%20by%20Independent%20Forensic.pdf. 54

9

A/HRC/44/53

intolerance that may include sexual and other violence, as well as socioeconomic deprivation. Exclusion from the family home as a result of refusal to undertake practices of “conversion therapy” triggers a cycle, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse young people being disproportionately represented in foster care, begging and sex work and more likely to be turned away from shelters. 40. Some participants at the expert meeting highlighted that practices of “conversion therapy” became a “moving target”, making it difficult to identify, monitor and punish perpetrators of such abuse. When facing restrictions or bans on practices specifically denominated “conversion therapy”, proponents have rebranded and reshaped their communications strategies. 41. With due attention to those specificities, the Independent Expert considers it useful to describe three main approaches that seem to guide practices of “conversion therapy”: psychotherapeutic, medical and faith-based. It should be noted, however, that academic literature disproportionately represents lived experiences from the global North, including Australia, and China and, despite the inclusion of non-scientific sources, information on religious practices remains scarce compared with those that are health-based. 1.

Psychotherapy 42. The use of psychotherapy as a practice of “conversion therapy” appears to be based on the belief that sexual or gender diversity is a product of an abnormal upbringing or experience. Providers claim to rectify deviations and support the development of desire for members of the opposite sex, which is considered the desirable norm, by having subjects work through past experiences, like absent paternal or officious maternal figures.64 That category comprised the majority of evidence in the Independent Expert’s literature review, with numerous variations of psychotherapy classified under, inter alia, psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive and interpersonal therapies. 43. Aversion is another frequent practice, through which a person is subjected to a negative, painful or otherwise distressing sensation while being exposed to a certain stimulus, under the premise that the stimulus will become associated with the negative sensation. Aversion methodologies have seen a sharp decline in use, especially after the late 1970s, but recent reports indicate that electric shocks have been used in aversive treatments in Australia,65 China,66 Ecuador, India,67 Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of),68 Lebanon, Malaysia, Panama, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Uganda, the United States, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe69.

Other aversion practices include injecting nausea-inducing or paralysisinducing drugs while exposing the subject to erotic material on a large screen, reportedly still being used in Iran (Islamic Republic of) and the United States.70 44. Other practices include subjects being encouraged to masturbate while fantasising about persons of a different gender (Iran (Islamic Republic of), 71 Peru,72 Spain73 and United 64

Ibid. See https://static1.squarespace.com/static/580025f66b8f5b2dabbe4291/ t/5bd78764eef1a1ba57990efe/1540851637658/LGBT+conversion+therapy+in+Australia+v2.pdf. 66 See www.hrw.org/report/2017/11/15/have-you-considered-your-parents-happiness/conversiontherapy-against-lgbt-people. 67 See www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3098146/Exposed-Delhi-doctors-claim-curehomosexuality-hormone-therapy-seizure-inducing-drugs-electric-shocks.html. 68 See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. For the Islamic Republic of Iran, see www.ilgaasia.org/news/2018/7/13/repost-from-6rang-reparative-therapies-on-gays-and-lesbiansthrough-cruel-inhumane-and-humiliating-treatments-has-increased-in-iran. 69 See irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027. 70 See irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027; see also www.ilgaasia.org/news/2018/7/13/repost-from-6rang-reparative-therapies-on-gays-and-lesbiansthrough-cruel-inhumane-and-humiliating-treatments-has-increased-in-iran. 71 See www.ilgaasia.org/news/2018/7/13/repost-from-6rang-reparative-therapies-on-gays-and-lesbiansthrough-cruel-inhumane-and-humiliating-treatments-has-increased-in-iran. 72 See https://larepublica.pe/politica/2019/08/12/las-terapias-de-la-tortura/ (in Spanish). 73 See https://elpais.com/diario/2010/06/20/sociedad/1276984802_850215.html (in Spanish). 65

10

A/HRC/44/53

States)74 and hypnosis (China, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Panama, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka and United States).75 45. Other techniques include trying to make patients’ behaviour more stereotypically feminine or masculine or teaching heterosexual dating skills. Practices aimed at changing gender identity include preventing trans young people from transitioning.76 Several victims explained that they were subjected to psychological violence by mental health practitioners, and the fear of being subjected to such treatment deters many trans people from seeking mental health care.77 2.

Medical 46. Medical practices function on “the postulation that [sexual orientation and gender identity] is the by-product of an inherent biological dysfunction … which can be treated exogenously”, relying archaically on lobotomies or the removal of sexual organs. 78 Current medical practices mostly rely on pharmaceutical approaches, such as medication or hormone or steroid therapy, 79 which is reportedly the case in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where hormone therapy is prescribed to lesbians to allegedly “cure” their so-called “gay affliction”.80 47. The invalid use of medication appears to be widely prevalent, taking place in numerous countries, including China, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Panama, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Viet Nam. 81 A journalistic investigation conducted in 2015 highlighted the use of hormonal treatment being prescribed in New Delhi by a sexologist who claimed to have “cured over 1,000 homosexuals” in the preceding 15 years.82 48. Ayurvedic, homeopathic and other traditional medical approaches are also reputedly applied, including in India83 and Sri Lanka.

In the United Republic of Tanzania, medical and traditional approaches are often practised in conjunction with circumcision rites and religious worship involving pre-adolescent and adolescent boys.84 Miracle cures have been reported, including the pouring of oil in the vagina in Nigeria. 85 Reports indicate that parents are taking their lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse children to traditional healers to “cure” them, where “treatment” sometimes includes an element of physical punishment, for example in Cambodia 86 and Viet Nam.87

74

See www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19359705.2013.773268. Submissions by the Eastern European Coalition for LGBT+ Equality; the Trevor Project; Born Perfect; Feminita; Darius Longarino; and 6Rang. See also See irct.org/media-and-resources/latestnews/article/1027. 76 Florence Ashley, “Torture isn’t therapy: banning conversion practices targeting transgender people”, 2020 (cited in See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World). 77 See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. See also www.hrw.org/ report/2019/09/03/dont-punish-me-who-i-am/systemic-discrimination-against-transgender-womenlebanon. 78 Submission by Tyler Adamson, Stef Baral and Chris Beyrer. 79 Ibid. 80 See www.ilgaasia.org/news/2018/7/13/repost-from-6rang-reparative-therapies-on-gays-and-lesbiansthrough-cruel-inhumane-and-humiliating-treatments-has-increased-in-iran; and https://outrightinternational.org/content/human-rights-report-being-lesbian-iran. 81 See irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027. 82 See www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/homosexuality-cure-delhi-doctors-exposed-conversiontherapy-254849-2015-05-27. 83 See irct.org/media-and-resources/latest-news/article/1027. 84 See outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy. 85 See www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-50869022/gay-in-nigeria-everybody-sees-me-as-anabomination.

86 See www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/hiv_aids/beinglgbt-in-asia--cambodia-country-report.html. 87 See www.vn.undp.org/content/vietnam/en/home/library/democratic_ governance/viet_nam_lgbt_report.html. 75

11

A/HRC/44/53

49. Several countries, with their own compendiums of illnesses or that have not yet incorporated global classifications into their national system, continue pathologizing nonheteronormative sexual orientations and non-cisnormative gender identities.88 In the Islamic Republic of Iran, individuals who inevitably fail at “converting” their sexual orientation will often be pressured to undergo surgery, in the belief that gender-affirming surgery will neutralize their orientation.89 3.

Faith-based 50. Faith-based organizations that actively promote, and often perpetrate, practices of “conversion therapy” act on the premise that there is something inherently evil in diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.90 In a study conducted in Australia, the purpose of religious counselling in those contexts was shown to make the subjects feel that the problem was their identity. Trans people from Malaysia and Viet Nam have described being forced to see leaders of faith-based organizations to be “healed” by prayers.91 In Indonesia, a group created branches in 40 cities, offering mentoring so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons could “live with heterosexual identities and be comfortable on the path of local religion and customs”.92 In the Russian Federation, there have been reports of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse children being taken to church and beaten with rods while others prayed for them. 93 51.

In many faith-based settings, approaches are often aimed at treating a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity as an addiction that can be overcome by following the tenets of a spiritual advisor, but can also include practices modelled on 12-step programmes supporting the underlying premise of “sexual brokenness” or “gender confusion”,94 an approach in which the dividing boundaries between religion and psychotherapy are blurred. 52. Approaches include treatment of great cruelty. In 2015, the New Jersey Superior Court, United States, ruled against a Jewish “conversion” organization, finding it liable for violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

Defendants testified to having been blindfolded and pummelled with basketballs, bound with duct tape, rolled up into blankets and subjected to anti-gay slurs.95 Anecdotal evidence indicates the existence of camps or “rehabilitation facilities” in Kenya and Somalia, where captives receive an Islamic education and are subjected to beatings, shackling and food deprivation, among other things.96 An investigation conducted in 2017 in the United States revealed cases of mistreatment in camps organized by Christian institutions, where teenage children were left in isolation and beaten because of their sexual orientation;97 a trans man from South Carolina described being pressured into going to a religious-based “conversion therapy” camp by his parents and church when he was 13 years of age, after struggling with his gender identity. According to his testimony, he was shamed at the camp and told repeatedly that his actions, thoughts and desires were sinful. He reported that others at the camp were subject to multiple electric shocks while simultaneously being shown pornographic images

The Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders, third edition, for example, still lists “ego-dystonic sexual orientation” as a mental disorder. See China LBT Rights Initiative, “Discrimination faced by lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in China”, 2014. 89 See www.ilgaasia.org/news/2018/7/13/repost-from-6rang-reparative-therapies-on-gays-and-lesbiansthrough-cruel-inhumane-and-humiliating-treatments-has-increased-in-iran. 90 See www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706071/. 91 See https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53cf9459e4b0a5929855f337/ t/57d92eb037c5812a4b8957a4/1473851143850/APTB+FINAL_corrected_December2015.pdf. 92 See www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/indonesia-lgbtqi-conversion-therapy/10576900. 93 See www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39777612. 94 Submission by the Trevor Project. 95 New Jersey Superior Court, Ferguson et al. v. JONAH et al. 96 See www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43066082; https://theithacan.org/opinion/escaping-gayconversion-therapy-in-kenya/; and https://afroqueerpodcast.com/2019/11/21/season-two-episode-05/. 97 See www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGwCJsaokSU; and https://newrepublic.com/article/141294/abominable-legacy-gay-conversion-therapy. 88

12

A/HRC/44/53

depicting same-sex couples. The patient now identifies as a transgender man and still has negative flashbacks of the treatment he suffered at the camp.98 53. Faith-based interventions are sometimes combined with exorcism. Sexual and gender diversity are sometimes associated with demonic forces, and some leaders of faithbased organizations and traditional healers perform rituals and exorcism to drive the evil out. There are testimonies of such rituals being performed in contexts as wide-ranging as Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom,99 often in evangelical Christian churches. In Chechnya, Russian Federation, demonic djinn expulsion by mullahs is prevalent, but if no djinn is detected, the subject will be deemed as having deliberately chosen the deviant behaviour and therefore deserving of death.100 54. Celibacy is sometimes presented as a way of obtaining redemption. In the Philippines, Christian “ex-gay movements” do not necessarily attempt to change the subject’s orientation, but homosexuals are directed not to engage in same-sex sexual activities.101

V. Effects and related human rights violations A.

Damage 55. All evidence provided to the Independent Expert depicting, among other harmful acts, beatings, rape, forced nudity, force-feeding or food deprivation, isolation and confinement, forced medication, verbal abuse, humiliation and electrocution, suggests that the methods and means commonly utilized to implement practices of “conversion therapy” are conducive to psychological and physical pain and suffering. 102 In that regard, the Independent Forensic Expert Group has concluded that: All practices attempting conversion are inherently humiliating, demeaning and discriminatory. The combined effects of feeling powerless and extreme humiliation generate profound feelings of shame, guilt, self-disgust, and worthlessness, which can result in a damaged self-concept and enduring personality changes. The injury caused by practices of “conversion therapy” begins with the notion that an individual is sick, diseased, and abnormal due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and must therefore be treated. This starts a process of victimization.103 56.

The deep impact on individuals includes significant loss of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive syndrome, social isolation, intimacy difficulty, self-hatred, shame and guilt, sexual dysfunction, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as often significant physical pain and suffering.104 98

See https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2019.9b9. See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. For France, see www2.assembleenationale.fr/content/download/183270/1836882/version/1/file/Synth%C3%A8se+4+pages+MI+th%C 3%A9rapies+de+conversion+-+version+d%C3%A9finitive.pdf. 100 Ekaterina Petrova, “Chechnya: banishing devils – Chechen authorities against laws of life?” in Lucas Ramon Mendos, “State-sponsored homophobia 2019: global legislation overview update” (See ilga.org/Conversion-therapy-global-research-ILGA-World. 101 See www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/being-lgbt-in-asia--the-philippinecountry-report.html. 102 John Dehlin and others., “Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members”, Journal of Counseling Psychology, vol. 62, No. 2. See also www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J236v05n03_08; https://ozanne.foundation/faith-sexualitysurvey-2018/; and https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a8fa/f008ed1c74f105da2ddaf 5d20172033e2d4a.pdf. 103 See www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X20300366. 104 See https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0735-7028.33.3.249; www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J236v05n03_08; https://academiccommons. columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/d8-cf6d-rd43/download; www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-therapy99

13

A/HRC/44/53

57. Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to the impact of practices of “conversion therapy”. A recent study of transgender adults found that, exposure before 10 years of age “was significantly associated with increased odds of severe psychological distress … and lifetime suicide attempts”. In addition to suicidal tendencies, children also experience a pronounced loss of self-esteem and a sharp increase in depressive tendencies, which can lead to school dropout and the adoption of high-risk behaviours and substance abuse.105 58. The long-term duration of many practices of “conversion therapy”, which can last for several years to more than a decade, can be particularly harmful.106 In addition to the aforementioned effects, it creates chronic stress, which has been known to result in many negative health consequences, including stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal disorders, skin diseases, sexual and eating disorders and migraines. 107

B.

Applicable international human rights law

1.

Non-discrimination 59. The application of international human rights law is guided by the fundamental principles of universality, equality and non-discrimination.108 Practices of “conversion therapy” target a specific group on the exclusive basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, with the specific aim of interfering in their personal integrity and autonomy. In that sense, such practices are per se discriminatory, as has been ascertained by several United Nations treaty bodies, including the Human Rights Committee109 and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.110 In its general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities found that discrimination occurred in brutal forms such as non-consensual and/or forced medical or hormone-based interventions, forced drugging and forced electroshocks, confinement and denial of access to health care.111

2.

Right to health 60. Every person, without distinction, should be able to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health 112 and freedom from non-consensual medical treatment.113 Furthermore, the right to sexual and reproductive health encompasses the right of persons to be fully respected for their sexual orientation and gender identity. In that regard, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found that regulations requiring that lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex persons be treated as mental

trfn/american-medical-association-announces-support-for-u-s-ban-on-conversion-therapyidUSKBN1XT2PJ; and www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X20300366. 105 Jack L. Turban and others, “Association between recalled exposure to gender identity conversion efforts and psychological distress and suicide attempts among transgender adults”, JAMA Psychiatry, vol. 77, No. 1; Caitlin Ryan and others, “Parent-initiated sexual orientation change efforts with LGBT adolescents: implications for young adult mental health and adjustment”, Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 67, No. 2; and Jo Fjelstrom, “Sexual orientation change efforts and the search for authenticity”, Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 60, No. 6. See also www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S1752928X20300366. 106 See https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000011; and https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2013.774830. 107 See www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X20300366. 108 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 1. 109 CCPR/C/KOR/CO/4, paras. 14–15. 110 CEDAW/C/MYS/Q/3-5, para. 21. 111 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, para. 7. 112 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 12. 113 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No.

14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, para. 8.

14

A/HRC/44/53

or psychiatric patients or requiring that they be “cured” by so-called “treatment”, were a clear violation of their right to sexual and reproductive health. 114 61. The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Independent Expert expressed grave concerns that stigma and prejudice, criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity, negation and the remnants of pathologization have a negative impact on national health policies and practices.115 Similarly, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed concerns about discrimination against persons perceived to have a disability in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, who were forced to undergo medical treatment.116 In 2018, in its concluding observations on the initial report of Poland, the Committee expressed concerns about the integrity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender-diverse persons who were reportedly subjected to practices of “conversion therapy”.117 As noted above, the psychological pain and suffering inflicted by practices of “conversion therapy” are deep and long-lasting and often exacerbate the risk of suicide.118 3.

Prohibition of torture and ill-treatment 62. United Nations entities and human rights mechanisms have expressed concern about practices of “conversion therapy”,119 and the United Nations anti-torture machinery has concluded that they can amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.120 The Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment have issued explicit reproaches against the treatments that are forced, involuntary or otherwise coercive or abusive,121 and the Committee on the Rights of the Child has connected those practices with violations of the rights of all adolescents to freedom of expression and respect for their physical and psychological integrity, gender identity and emerging autonomy.122 In 2020, the Independent Forensic Expert Group concluded that “conversion therapy constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment when it is conducted forcibly or without an individual’s consent and may amount to torture depending on the circumstances, namely the severity of physical and mental pain and suffering inflicted”.123 63.

The Independent Expert observes that all practices of “conversion therapy” take as a point of departure the belief that sexually diverse or gender-diverse persons are somehow inferior – morally, spiritually or physically – than their heterosexual and cisgender siblings and must modify their orientation or identity to remedy that inferiority. The opposite view, supported by international human rights law, is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons are equal to others, that their sexual orientation and gender identity are a natural part of their development, without any detrimental qualification to their moral stature, their mental or physical health or their ability to seek and achieve fulfilment through spirituality. That recognition is fundamental to giving content to the principle of dignity, according to which there is an innate and equal value of all human beings.

114

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health, para. 23. 115 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25128&LangID=E#_ftn13. 116 CRPD/C/IRN/CO/1, para. 12 (b). 117 CRPD/C/POL/CO/1, para. 30. 118 A/74/148, para. 48; and A/HRC/38/43, para. 47. 119 CRC/C/RUS/CO/4-5, para. 55; CCPR/C/ECU/CO/6, para. 12; CEDAW/C/ECU/CO/8-9; and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 22. 120 CAT/C/CHN/CO/5, para. 55; CAT/C/ECU/CO/7, para 49; CAT/C/57/4, para. 69; CCPR/C/UKR/CO/7, para. 10; CCPR/C/NAM/CO/2, para. 9; A/74/148, para. 50; A/56/156, para. 24; A/HRC/43/49, para. 37; and A/HRC/22/53, paras. 76 and 88. See also A/HRC/19/41 and A/HRC/29/23. 121 A/74/148, para. 50; A/56/156, para. 24; A/HRC/43/49; and CAT/C/CHN/CO/5, para. 56. 122 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence. 123 See www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X20300366.

15

A/HRC/44/53

64. It follows that means and mechanisms that treat lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender-diverse persons as lesser human beings are degrading by their very definition. The Independent Expert observes that sexual orientation and gender identity are a fundamental part of the personal integrity of such persons and part of the furtherance of their life plans and the pursuit of happiness. All practices of “conversion therapy” however share the premise that sexual orientation and gender identity can be extricated – expelled, cured or rehabilitated – as if they were alien to the person, a most inhuman understanding of human existence. The overwhelming evidence available on the psychological and physical suffering inflicted on victims, as well as its lasting effects, leads the Independent Expert to conclude that perpetrators must act on callous disregard for human suffering. The asymmetrical power relationship between an enlightened converter and a benighted convert further evokes the dehumanization, moral exclusion and delegitimating rationale, which not only is an enabling mechanism of torture, but lies at the base of most gross human rights violations in recorded history. 65.