There Is No Place for Anti-Trans Agendas in the UN

18 May 2023

by AWID

Read in: English French Spanish

We express grave concerns over the series of harmful statements made and actions¹ taken by the current UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem. To our dismay, the Special Rapporteur has persistently advocated for additional obstacles and conditions to legal gender recognition that undermine the rights protections of trans people, rather than calling for bodily autonomy for all. Instead of strengthening protections of marginalized groups and contributing to progressive legacies of previous Special Rapporteur and feminist movements that untiringly advocated for the creation of the office, we witness that the current Special Rapporteur is misusing her position and power to advocate for discriminatory policies against trans people and misapplying established human rights principles and frameworks.

We are alarmed that the Special Rapporteur has weaponized “protection of women’s rights” to advocate for positions that misrepresent and regress from international norms and standards. In advocating for “single sex spaces” and increased barriers to legal gender recognition, the Special Rapporteur has also called for the “return” to an understanding of violence against women that is “based on their female sex”² and upholds “sex-based rights.”³ Not only does this deviate from a feminist and scientific understanding of “sex” as being socially constructed, rather than fixed, essentialist, binary, biological and based on physiological characteristics. It is also contrary to international human rights standards that have evolved considerably to address discrimination based on gender⁴⁵ which has been defined as a social construct “....that justifies inequality and provides a means to categorize, order and symbolize power relations.”⁶ In opposing the use of gender based discrimination to justify harmful policies against trans people and protect women’s “sex based rights,” the Special Rapporteur perpetuates and mirrors arguments and strategies used by states in the UN who increasingly oppose the use of “gender” in intergovernmental negotiations and other UN policy spaces.

We reject the co-optation of the human rights framework, particularly the notion put forward by the Special Rapporteur that the fulfillment of the rights of trans women and cis women is or can be conflicting and incompatible⁷. We denounce the mandate holder’s grave misuse of the feminist concept of ‘intersectionality.’⁸ In doing so, the Special Rapporteur actively undermines the principles of the universality and indivisibility of rights, and goes against our values as feminists.

The Special Rapporteur claims that her position is supported by “feminist organizations.”⁹ However, many diverse feminists, women’s rights, human rights, and LGBTIQ+ organizations and activists have voiced their disagreement with the views she is expressing. Moreover, they have attempted to raise concerns directly with her about the potential dangers of such a statement¹⁰. These attempts were made in good faith, with the purpose of providing constructive feedback so that she will, at minimum, preserve gains made by the existing mandate that has historically been invaluable to the work of feminist movements worldwide.

Based on recent statements and actions, the Special Rapporteur has indicated no intention of reconsidering her position. On the contrary, she is continuing to perpetuate narratives upholding outdated and non-scientific understandings of binary biological sex, and reinforcing unfounded and sensationalized myths that vilify and dehumanize trans women, under the guise of “protection of women’s rights.”¹¹ In doing so, she has openly contradicted and regressed from established international human rights standards and norms on gender and sexuality, insisting on a regressive reading of international human rights law contained in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Special Rapporteurs hold a central role in the UN system as independent experts mandated to protect the rights of the marginalized and ensure implementation to remedy and prevent harm based on international human rights principles . Among the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls is to adopt a comprehensive and universal approach to the elimination of violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, including causes of violence against women relating to the civil, cultural, economic, political and social spheres.¹²Reem Alsalem’s publicly stated positions and actions have fundamentally compromised the mandate to address violence against women.

We unequivocally affirm the following position:

Our work as feminists to advance the right to bodily autonomy and human rights for all cannot be isolated from the fight for legal recognition of each person’s self-defined gender identity, expression, and sexuality. As trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming persons continue to face systemic and institutionalized discrimination and violence based on their gender identity and/or expression in accessing essential services, the Special Rapporteur's call for additional obstacles to legal gender recognition¹³ is in itself discriminatory. Further, the connection made between the removal of barriers for legal gender recognition with increased risk of “male violence” and “retraumatization and revictimization”¹⁴ lacks empirical evidence.¹⁵ Equally importantly, it does not reflect the lived experiences of either trans people or those interacting with them, nor, in fact, the experience of victims/survivors of violence of all genders. The Special Rapporteur's crusade to defend “single sex spaces”¹⁶ is dangerous in two ways. First, it legitimizes and perpetuates anti-trans narratives that fuel the violence and discrimination targeted at trans people, which have intensified over the past years. Second, it dangerously misrepresents the causes, consequences, and impacts of gender-based violence against all people. We fear that the Special Rapporteur has provided a foundation from which to validate restrictions against the bodily autonomy of women and girls, along with other marginalized groups.
The coordinated mobilization against rights protections of trans people cannot be understood in isolation from heightened hyper-nationalism and religious fundamentalisms, wider regressions and attacks on human rights globally. From the criminalization of abortion in Poland¹⁷ and the USA¹⁸, to the onslaught of anti-LGBTIQ+ laws being passed in Uganda¹⁹ and Russia²⁰, racist anti-migrant laws and policies across Europe²¹, and the push for punitive and protectionist frameworks against sex work in UN policy spaces;²² these regressions aim to construct an exclusionary society that reinforces social hierarchies and norms of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, caste, and class²³. Feminist research has demonstrated extensively connections between anti-trans groups justifying discrimination under the pretext of “protecting women's rights” and religious fundamentalists groups.²⁴
The progress and protections afforded by international human rights law and mechanisms as we know them is a result of decades of struggle and hard work of progressive movements. Feminists, LGBTIQ+ advocates, human rights defenders, and communities negatively affected by patriarchy, racism, casteism, neoliberalism, ableism, and other forms of structural inequalities have, and continue, the struggle to dismantle these systems of oppression, and advocate for justice and liberation for all. The groundbreaking work done by all the previous UN Special Rapporteurs on Violence against Women is testament to this.²⁵
We recognise and affirm that our struggles for bodily autonomy are inextricably interlinked:the fulfillment of the rights of all marginalized groups, and universality and indivisibility must remain at the heart of all human rights work.

In short, none of us are free, until all of us are.

The Special Rapporteur must guarantee the mandate’s independence, accountability to rights-holders. We believe that the harmful position taken by the Special Rapporteur undermines the integrity, independence, and credibility of the Special Procedures mechanism as a whole. As feminists, we demand accountability for and a halt to the Special Rapporteur’s harmful practices. We insist that the UN system ensures voices and concerns of feminists, women’s rights, and LGBTIQ+ movements - particularly trans-led groups, are at the center rather than the margins.

We invite groups, organizations and individuals to sign on to the statement by June 19, 2023

Organisations who signed up

A Different View Project
ABL -Articulação Brasileira de Lésbicas
Abogadas por la igualdad
Abogades por los Derechos Sexuales (AboSex)
Abortistasmx
AccessBC
Accountability International
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
ACTIONS KUSAIDIA
Actions pour la Réinsertion Sociale de la Femme "ARSF"
Africa Center for Health Systems and Gender Justice
Africa Rise Foundation
African Women Solidarity
Agentur für soziale Perspektiven e.V.
Aide aux Trans du Québec (ATQ)
Aireana, grupo por los derechos de las lesbianas
AKAHATA
ALCE (Abolición de Lógicas de Castigo y Encierro)
Aleordoñez
Aliades
Alianza Mexicana de Trabajadoras Sexuales
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM)
Altavoz LGBT+
ALTSEAN-Burma
AMIGAY aps
Antifaz
Apad kivu
Arcigay Firenze Altre Sponde
Argentina Intersex
arrecife
Arrecife Arte Trans
Arus Pelangi
ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
Asia Feminist LBQ Network
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW)
Asia Pacific Transgender Network
Asia Pacific Transgender Organisation
Asia-Japan Women's Resource Center (AJWRC)
Asociación Ciudadana ACCEDER
Asociacion de mujeres feministas de Berlanga
Asociación feminista de trabajadoras sexuales
ASOCIACIÓN LGBTl CHAPARRAL DIVERSA
Asociacion Mexicana de empresarios LGBT Capítulo Durango
Asociación para las Infancias Transgénero
Asociacion Taller de Educación en Valores Alternativos (Colectivo Cala)
Asociacion Transformar Peru
Asociación Transvida
Associação Brasileira Innterdisciplinar de AIDS (ABIA)
Associação Brasileira LGBTI+ (ABGLT)
Associação Nacional de Travestis e transexuais do BRASIL (ANTRA)
Association of Transgender People in the Philippines (ATP)
Association of Women Lawyers
Association pour la Conservation et la Protection des Écosystèmes des Lacs et l'Agrlculture Durable
Association Spectra
Association Transgenres et Droits
Atria institute on gender equality and women's history
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Aviso colectivo trans
Aye Myanmar Association
AZAD LGBTİ Azerbaijan
Balance Promoción para el Desarrollo y Juventud AC
Benson Visuals
BIPOC TV & Film
Bisdak Pride, Inc.
Blue Diamond Society
Body&Data
Bold Humans
Broken Rainbow - japan
Bundesverband Trans* (BVT*)
CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice
Camba Meraki
Camerata Vocal México
Campaign for Change
Campanha Nem Presa Nem Morta
CAN-Myanmar
Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity
CARAM Asia
Casa de las muñecas tiresias a.c.
Casa Rara
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (CDD) México
Cebu United Rainbow LGBTIQ+ Sector Inc.
Center for Migration, Gender, and Justice
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center Women and Modern World
Centre for Environment, Human Rights & Development Forum - CEHRDF
Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy
Centro de Apoyo a las Identidades Trans
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos Promsex
Centro Juvenil Futuro
CENTRO MUJERES AC
Centro Mujeres agráviela Hierro AC
CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality
Choice in Health Clinic
Chorra Editora
Circuito de la Diversidad Sexual
Circulo Feminista de Análisis Jurídico
Citizen, Democracy and Accountability
Clínica Mediegde salud sexual y Reproductiva
Clóset de Sor Juana
Coalición Mexicana LGBTTTI +
Coalition for Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)
Coalition sexual and health rights of marginalised communities MARGINS, Republic of North Macedonia
COC Nederland
CODISEX LOS CABOS AC
Colectiva ADAS (Acompañamiento Después de un Aborto Seguro)
Colectiva diversidad-es
Colectiva Feminista para el Desarrollo Local
Colectiva Flores del Desierto
Colectiva Luchadoras MX
Colective Transcendentes
Colectivo de Prostitutas de Sevilla
Colectivo Michoacán es Diversidad
Colectivo Mujeres Al Derecho
Colectivo Seres AC
Colectivo Trans
Colectivo trans por la libertad de ser y hacer
Coletivo de Assessoria Cirandas
Collectif des Femmes du Mali(COFEM)
Colores Trans
Community Care Collective
Compañía Victoria Sickness
Comuna Diversa
Comunidad de Durango
comunidad intersexual de México
Conectas Direitos Humanos
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Consortium of LGBT+ Voluntary and Community Organisations
Consultorio Jurídico Feminista (CJF)
Conurbanes por la Diversidad
Copenhagen Pride
Corporación LeGal BienesTar
CREA
CSD Deutschland e.V.
CSD München
CTU ( Colectivo Trans del Uruguay)
Cynara Gender Training Platform and Consulting
Data Cívica
DEKUMAS LBT
Delirio Cuir
Derechos Autonomías y Sexualidades (DAS Cancún)
Derechos Autonomías y Sexualidades AC
Di RAMONA
DISABILITY PEOPLES FORUM UGANDA
Diverlex Diversidad e Igualdad a través de la Ley
Diversidad Dominicana
Doctors for Choice Malta
Drama Queens Ghana
Dzaleka Azimai Union (DAU)
EASTERN CARIBBEAN ALLIANCE FOR DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY (ECADE
EATHAN - East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network
ECoSex
Egale Canada
El Aullido
El Día Después Mx
ELLESTRANS MÉXICO
emergent justice collective
Empresa
Enclave
End Rape on Campus Australia
Equal Asia Foundation
Equality Bahamas
Equality New York
Equality Rights Africa Organization
Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice
EQUIS Justicia para las Mujeres
EUFORIA. Familias Trans-Aliadas
European Pride Organisers Association
European Professional Association for Transgender Health (EPATH)
European Sex Workers Rights Alliance
Eyala
FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders
Fama
Family Planning Australia
FEASIES
FEDERA
FemAgora
FemDev Consulting
Feminism Makes Us Smarter
Feminismos del Sur
Feminist Conversations Kenya (FCK)
Feminist Support For Youth Initiative Uganda
Feminists Against Ableism
FemLink
FEMME HANDICAPE SANS FRONTIERE
FEMMEHIVE
Femmes Volontaires pour l'humanité (FVH).
FLUX
FONDATION CLARINA BASTIA
FONDATION ISHIABWE KITHOKO ANDRE, FONDIKA RDC
Fondo Semillas
Forum for Civic Participation in Governance -Kenya
Fórum Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais Negras e Negros -FONATRANS
Foundation HE+HIV/Plus.sr
FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund
Fund for Global Human Rights
Fundació Àmbit Prevenció
Fundación Arcoiris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
Fundación Ayllu Familias Transmasculinas
Fundación Ecuatoriana Equidad
Fundación GAAT - Grupo de Acción y Apoyo a personas Trans
Fundación Iguales
Fundación Pakta
Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer
GADIP, Gender and Development in Practice
GAFADIS (Grupo de Apoyo de Familiares y Amigxs de la Diversidad Sexual- Costa Rica)
galck+
GALE- The Global Alliance for LGBT Education
GATE, Global Action for Trans Equality
Gender DynamiX
Gender Essence
Género, Etica y Salud Sexual AC
GIN SSOGIE
Global Justice Center
Global Network of Sex Work Projects
Global south Coalition For Dignified Menstruation
Global Women's Health, Rights and Empowerment Initiative (GWHREI)
Glorious interfaith initiative
GOOD TO BE GOOD
GPESI juventudes
Growth Speak Gym Philippines
Grupo de Estudios Interdisciplinarios de Género y Sexualidad - Paréntesis
Grupo Lésbico, Bisexual Feminista-POR NOSOTRAS-
Gruppo Trans Arcigay Firenze
Guendaracané
Hamilton Trans Health Coalition
Hanla Clara
Health Liberation Now!
Here NI
Hevi Lgbti+ Association
HIV Justice Network
HIV Legal Network
Hivos
Hombres Trans Diversos de Bolivia
Hombres Trans Panama
https://sarawagneryork.com/
Humang Rights and LGBT+ Citiizenship Research Group/Federal University of Minas Gerais/Brazil
Humanists International
Hysteria! Revista
i freedom Uganda Network
IBRAT - Instituto Brasileiro de Transmasculinidades
ICASO
IGLYO - The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation
ILGA Oceania
ILGALAC - Asociación Internacional de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales, Trans e Intersex para América Latina y el Caribe
ILGA World
Ilias Centre for Global Liberty
Iloilo Pride Team
Ilota Ledo
Independent feminist seminar &cafe on gender and intersectionality
India HIV/AIDS Alliance
Indigenous Women Legal Awareness Group (INWOLAG)
Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IM-Defensoras)
Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa
Initiative Sankofa de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
Instituto de liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir
Instituto Marielle Franco
Instituto Matizes
International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
International Network on Violence against Women and girls
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
International Trans Fund
International Women Fund Azerbaijan
International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific)
Intersecta Organización para la Igualdad, A.C.
Intersex Iceland
Invasorix
Ipas
IPPF Americas y El Caribe
Iranti
It Gets Better Guatemala
IWDA
Jóvenes Prevenidos A.C.
Just Associates - JASS
Just.Equal Australia Inc
Kaos GL
Karuna, Salud y Desarrollo, A.C.
Key Populations Uganda
kolekTIRV
KRYSS Network
La Hervidera
La Tianguis Disidente
Laboratorio de Narrativas Divergentes
Laboratorio de Narrativas Divergentes AC
Ladlad LGBT Partylist
LakanBini Advocates Pilipinas
Lanängen
Las Marikarmen
Las Reinas Chulas Cabaret y Derechos Humanos AC
Les bénévoles des océans du Cameroun
LGB Alliance Friends Edinburgh
LGBT Foundation
LGBT+ Network for Change
LGBTI por la Paz
LGBTIQ+ Transformando Vidas
LGBTIQA+ Greens
Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos, Ledeser, A.C.
LSVD
Lugar de mujer a.c.
MADRE
MAL: Memoria y acción lésbica
Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement
Mama Cash
MANODIVERSA
MAP Foundation
Masculinidades Diversas
Masimanyane Women's Rights International
May 17 Association
Maywa Warmi - Insurrección Feminista
MenEngage Global Alliance
MGRM - Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement
Mitiga CO2
Molao Matters
Movimiento de mujeres Positivas
Movimiento de Mujeres Positivas/Asociación Viviendo Positivamente
Mujer Libre Mx Fuerza de Ixchel A.C.
Mujer y Salud en Uruguay MYSU
Mujeres de Xochilt
MUJERES INC
MUKONO WOMEN AIDS TASK FORCE ( MWATF
Mulabi/Espacio Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos
Nairasha Legal Support
NAIZEN Asociación de familias de menores transexuales
Namibia Diverse Women Association (NDWA)
National Allaince of Women Human right Defenders
National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD)
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Council of German Women‘s Organisations (Deutscher Frauenrat)
National Trans Coalition Human Rights NGO (NTC)
National workers congress
Nebula Fund
Netwerk Regenboog FNV
Network of Gender Journalists for Women and Cultural Advancement (NoGJWCA)
Ngao Foundation
No Binarie Costa Rica
NOOR
North South Initiative
Nous Sommes la Solution
Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project
Oaxatrans A. C.
Observatorio Ciudadano lgbti+ Chiapas
Observatorio Ciudadano por los derechos lgbti+
Observatório de Sexualidade e Política
Observatorio Nacional de Crímenes de Odio contra personas LGBTI+ en México
ODRI Intersectional Rights - Office against Discrimination, Racism, and For Intersectionality
OII Chinese
OII Japanese
One Future Collective
ONG Diversa Patagonia
Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF)
Organisation Féministe MARIJÀN [OFMA]
Organización de Trabajadoras Sexuales-OTRASEX
Organizado Trans Diversidades (OTD Chile)
Orgullo Ecatepec A C
Our Generation for Inclusive Peace (OGIP)
Outburst Arts
Outright International
Pacific Feminist Fund
Pandeo
PANTAY - Philippine Anti-Discrimination Alliance of Youth Leaders Inc.
Paradigm for Social Justice and Development
People Like Us Support Ourselves (PLUsos)
Perspectiva Queer
Phoenix
Pioneer Filipino Transgender men Movement
Plataforma YoSiTe Creo en Cuba
Political Research Associates
Possibile LGBTI+
Potencia Intersex
Prayatna Nepal
Presentes, periodismo, géneros y derechos humanos
Pride Amsterdam Foundation
Pride At Work
Programme d'Actions pour le Développement au Congo (RDC)
Programme d'Actions pour le Développement au Congo asbl
PROMSEX, Centro de Promocion y Defensa de Los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos
Prospera INWF
PU "Kyrgyz Indigo"
PUENTES
Qorras
queer feminist collective tender na gender
Queer Infrastructure Network
Queere-Jugend-Berlin.de
Queereme Mucho
Queretrans
Radio Cósmica Libre
RAÍCES, Análisis de Género para el Desarrollo A.C.
Rainbow Action Against Sexual-Minority Discrimination
Rainbow Africa Initiative Uganda
Rainbow Ignite
Rainbow Nation Brussels
Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice
Rechtskomitee LAMBDA (RKL)
Red Amor Transparente
Red ASALEAS (Mich., México)
Red Comunitaria del Sur
Red de Empoderamiento de Mujeres
Red de Familias Trans
Red de Juventudes Trans Mexico
Red de medicas por el derecho a decidir
Red de Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe
Red Gay Latino
Red Maricones del Sur
Red Mérida Feminista
Red Salvadoreña de personas con vih
Red Temática de la Diversidad Sexual LGBTIQACDPM+ de Nicaragua
Red Trans Joven - Guatemala
Red Umbrella Fund
REDE AFRO LGBT
Rede Integrada de Inclusão Social e Capacitação LGBTIQAPN Capacitrans
Rede Nacional de Mulheres Negras no Combate à Violência
REDefine Durango
Release
Resistencia LGBTIQA+ de Costa Rica e independiente
Resistencia No Binarix
ReUnidas
Revibra Europe
Revista Volcánicas
Revolución Iridiscente REVI
RFSL-Stockholm
Risco Festival
Rosa Rabiosa
Rozelinks
Ruta Verde, campaña y plataforma por la despenalización legal y social del aborto en Venezuela
Rutgers
Salud y Vida
Samtökin '78
SANNOY
SASOD Guyana
Savie NGO LGBTQ DRCONGO
Secular Kenya
SEDRA-FEDERACIÓN PLANIFICACIÓN FAMILIAR
Semia Feminist Fund
Seminario Intersex
Sexual Rights Initiative
Shake The Table
SHARE, center for Sexual rigHts And Reproductive justicE
Side B Philippines
sindicato obreros curtidores
Sindicato OTRAS
Sisters of Frida
Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association
SOCIETY FOR SOCIALUPLIFT THROUGH RURALACTION (SUTRA)
Society of Gender Professionals
Society of Queer Momentum
Society of Trans Women of the Philippines (STRAP)
Socoopa-nezo
Solidaridad con Ayotzinapa - Suecia
Solidarité Internationale pour l'Afrique
Sonora Trans
Sonora trans a.c.
SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL CLUBE LISBOA FUNDADOR
South Feminist Futures
Sphere Foundation
SRHR Hubs
Stockholm Pride
Success Capital Organisation
Sukaar Welfare Organization
Surkuna Ecuador
Sweet Endings
Synergía, initiatives for human rights
T*REVERS
Tagoloan Gender Advocacy Group (TAGAD)
TALAY'AN NGO
TALAYAN.NGO
Tamùkke Feminist Movement
Tarangini Foundation
TEDIC
The Family
The Institute for Studies of Society, Economy & Environment (iSEE)
The Kvinna till Kvinna foundation
The Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Woman
The Netherlands Association for Women's Rights, Female Labour and Equal Citizenship
The Well-being Center (TWEC)
Tiiiit! Inc.
Track-T
Trans Affirmative Action Guild (TAAG)
Trans BCS
Trans boys uruguay-niñez,adolescencia y familia
Trans Formations Project
Trans Iceland
Trans Organización Feminista por los Derechos Humanos de las personas Trans
Trans Safety Network
Trans United Europe/BPOC trans network
Trans Youth Initiative-Uganda
Transcenders
Transcontingenta
TransFormA
Transgender Europe
Transgender Japan
Transgender Netwerk Nederland
TRANSInfancia
trànsit catalonia
Transketeers
TransLucent.Org.UK
Transmasculinidades MX
TRANSSA-Trans Siempre Amigas
TRANSSALUD
Transvanilla Transgender Association
Tranz Network Uganda
UKOO
umbrella association of Swiss rainbow families
UN Etxea - Asociación del País Vasco para la UNESCO
UN Program, Occidental College
Una Mano Amiga en la Lucha Contra el SIDA AC
Unboxd
United Caribbean Transpeeson Network
Université de GENèVE
Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights (UAF)
UTTHAN-(Unprivileged To The Humanitarian Action Need)
Validamos con poder
Vasikana Vedu
Vecinas Feministas por la Justicia Sexual y Reproductiva en América Latina
Visibles Guatemala
VOICE MALE Magazine
Volevento SL
Wagenburg Kanal e.V
WELL KARE
WEST AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS NETWORK
What Really Makes Us Safe? Project
WHRDMENA Coalition ( Regional Coalition of women human rights defenders in the middle east and north africa)
WIDE+ (Women In Development Europe+)
Widow Womens Welfare Trust
WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform
WOMANTRA
Women and Modern World Social Charitablle Center
Women Collective Kenya
Women Deliver
Women Empowered
Women Empowerment Against Poverty of Nepal (WEAPoN)
Women Enabled International
Women First International Fund
Women forum for Women in Nepal (WOFOWON)
Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition
Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing
Women with a Vision,Inc
Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)
Women's Health and Equal Rights Initiative (WHER)
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom UK
Women's Refugee Commission
Women’s Equality Center (WEC)
Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights Organization
Y+ Global
Yorkshire MESMAC
Young Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex Youth Studies and Solidarity Association (Young LGBTI+)
Young Queer Alliance
YUWA
Zines por Morrxs
Zurich Pride Festival

Individuals who signed up

Aaron Vargas Guevara
Abiola
Abrahão Leandro De Lima Paulino
Abrahão Pedro De Lima Júnior
Abril Castro Prieto
Adeline Berry
Adna Kalajdzisalihovic Vuga
Adri Percastegui
Adrian Andres Ordaz López
Adrian Retana
Adriana Edith Sánchez Cuatianquiz
Adriana Rodrigues Martins
Adrien Perez
Åge Markus Schultz
Aimè Graves
Ainara Ruiz Benito
Alanna Rondi
Alberto García Navarro
Alec Baker
Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani
Alessandra Hereman
Alessandra Kemp
Aletze Estrada
Alex Beigelbeck
Alex Cheung
Alex Griffin
Alex Orué
Alexander Granados
Alexandra Demetrianová
Alexandra Lily Kather
Alexandra Maduagwu
Alexandra Oliveira
Alexandra Vega-Rivera
Alexandra-Anathema George Dyce
Alice Hoffmann
Alice Ridge
Alice Segeling
Alicia nieto
Aline Baudet
Aline Fantinatti
Alison Brown
Alison Phipps
Alisson Carvalho da Silva
Alizia Izal Elorz
Altagracia Balcacer
Aluminé Moreno
Alva Sandoval Cazares
Álvaro Navarro Alonso
Alyn García
Amaia Elena Barrena Arana
Amaru Padilla
Aminata SANOU
Ana Alejandra Duque Mata
Ana Alicia Almazán
Ana Gabriela González Castillo
Ana Horno
Ana Isabel Pastor Gonzalez
Ana Sofía Huerta Rivera
ANA VICTORIA PORTOCARRERO
Ana Violeta Cervantes Nuño
Anabel
Anastasia Stella Mezecka
Anayansi Arias Iriarte
Andere Larrinaga Cuadra
André du Plessis
Andrea Ariza Ruiz
Andrea Ayala
Andrea Baldwin
Andrea Huesca
Andrea Maynard
Andrea Rosales
Andrea Sánchez
Andrej Beder
Andrew Grose
Andrew Middleton
Andrew Sullivan
Anette María Jiménez Arguedas
Angela Genusa
Angela Kintominas
Angélica Nadurille Álvarez
Angélica Nadurille Álvarez
Anjeelee Kaur Beegun
Ann Louise Deslandes
Anna Thau
Aref Azrael
Aref Santos Barrita
Ariana Barrantes
Ariana González
Aritz de la Presa Unanue
Arsiné Kailian
Åsa Ekvall
Ashlee Burnett
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¹Particularly the Special Rapporteur’s letter addressed to the Scottish Parliament dated 23rd of November 2022. (From hereon referred to as Nov 2022 letter). Through her personal social media account and published articles, the Special Rapporteur has amplified arguments that perpetuate anti-trans narratives.
²In the Special Rapporteur’s article, Repression of women is blocking the SDGs, April 2023, she describes extensions of discrimination to encompass gender as a “regression.”
³In the CEDAW Day of General Discussion on women’s participation on 22 February 2022 the Special Rapporteur encouraged the CEDAW Committee to look at “the characteristics of sex and sex-based rights” in politics, sports and other areas. A similar statement was made by the Special Rapporteur during an EDVAW Platform briefing about “the relationship between VAW and discrimination based on sex and sex characteristics, since discrimination based on sex is outlawed in all major treaties but is becoming deprioritized.”
⁴UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/50/18 pp6, “Underscoring the fact that international human rights law prohibits discrimination, inter alia on the basis of gender, and that national legislation, policies and practices should comply with States’ international obligations,"
⁵Report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz A/HRC/47/27
Para 13 "Analysis of the sources of international human rights law reveals a robust corpus iuris in which gender is the term used to describe the sociocultural constructs that assign roles, behaviours, forms of expression, activities and attributes according to the meaning given to biological sex characteristics... Under this definition, gender and sex do not substitute each other, and gender identity and gender expression are inextricably linked to them as practices of concern in anti-discrimination analysis. "
⁶See Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on a gender-sensitive approach to arbitrary killings, Agnès Callamard, para. 16, A/HRC/35/23, June 2017, as referenced in Comments to the Draft Crimes Against Humanity Convention in November 2018
⁷Nov 2022 Letter to the Scottish Parliament, pg. 6, para.27
⁸In the Nov 2022 Letter to the Scottish Parliament, the Special Rapporteur claims to take into consideration discrimination against women “in all their diversity” and the “risk of intersecting forms of discrimination.’ She proceeds to conclude that in removing barriers to legal gender recognition, the Scottish parliament fails to take into consider ‘women in all their diversity.’ This misrepresents the feminist concept of intersectionality. For a comprehensive view of the definition of intersectionality and its operationalization in the human rights framework, please refer to Sexual Rights Initiative’s Advancing Rights for All, May 2016
⁹See for instance the Special Rapporteur’s claim to the Scottish Parliament that “many of the issues that I mentioned [in my letter] echo points made by feminist organizations and victims.”
https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/equalities-human-rights-and-civil-justice-committee-december-19-2022
¹⁰On 30 November 2022, a coalition of feminists and LGBTIQ+ organizations submitted a private letter to the Special Rapporteur raising concerns over the Special Rapporteur's letter addressed to the Scottish Parliament. You will find the letter here.
¹¹Nov 2022 Letter to the Scottish Parliament, pg 3 para 13 and 14. is framed to suggest that access to self identification requires safeguarding “because majority of sex offenders are male.” It also suggests that ‘women at risk of male violence’ are categorically excludes violence faced by trans women. This is a misrepresentation of the dynamics of gender-based violence. Further, referring to so-called “predators” and “violent males” when discussing the GRR reduces individual person’s identification legitimizes dangerous anti-trans narratives that fuel the targeted violence and discrimination against trans people.
¹²About the Mandate https://www.ohchr.org/en/about-mandate.
¹³Nov 2022 Letter to the Scottish Parliament, para. 8
¹⁴Nov 2022 Letter to the Scottish Parliament, para.5
¹⁵Rape Crisis Scotland statement on the open letter to Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, November 2022
¹⁶On her social media account, on April 2023 the Special Rapporteur has claimed to “..stand in solidarity with lesbian women and girls everywhere- working tirelessly for a life free from violence; a life where they can to enjoy single sex social spaces..”
¹⁷Poland: A Year On, Abortion Ruling Harms Women, Oct 2021, Human Rights Watch
¹⁸OHCHR, USA: UN experts denounce Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, urge action to mitigate consequences, June 2022
¹⁹Full Interview: Frank Mugisha on New Anti-LGBTQ Bill in Uganda That Could Impose Death Penalty, Apr 2023, DemocracyNow
²⁰The Guardian, Russia passes law banning ‘LGBT propaganda’ among adults Nov 2022
²¹OURs Trends Report Rights at Risk: time for action 2021, pg. 35
²²https://www.mamacash.org/media/cedaw_statement_swag.pdf
²³OURs Trends Report 2021 Rights at Risk: time for action pg. 31
²⁴OURs Trends Report 2021 Rights at Risk: time for action and OURs brief Gender ideology narratives: a threat to human rights 2022
²⁵The previous mandate holders Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences have reinforced an intersectional feminist understanding in addressing violence against women (Manjoo, A/HRC/17/26, submitted communications and allegation letters to states on allegations of police abuse against trans women in Nepal ( Erturk, A/HRC/4/34/Add.1, emphasized an affirmative approach to sexual rights and women’s sexuality, away from a protectionist framework (Erturk, 15 Years of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (1994-2009)—A Critical Review and emphasized a victim centered approach to trafficking and challenges criminalization of sex work (Coomaraswamy, in her interview with IWRAW Asia Pacific, Disadvantaged, ignored, and disrespected”: A feminist analysis of CEDAW General Recommendation 38 – Part 1

Category: Statements
Region: Global
Topics: Sustainable Development Goals; Human rights systems, bodies and instruments; LGBTQI Rights

There Is No Place for Anti-Trans Agendas in the UN

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