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Resolution 2048 (2015)
Discrimination against transgender people in Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly regrets
that transgender people face widespread discrimination in Europe. This
takes a variety of forms, including difficulties in access to work,
housing and health services, and transgender people are frequently
targeted by hate speech, hate crime, bullying and physical and psychological
violence. Transgender people are also at particular risk of multiple
discrimination. The fact that the situation of transgender people
is considered as a disease by international diagnosis manuals is disrespectful
of their human dignity and an additional obstacle to social inclusion.
2. Awareness of the situation of transgender people is largely
insufficient among the general public and accurate, unbiased information
in the media is scarce. This leads to higher levels of prejudice
and hostility which could be avoided.
3. The Assembly is concerned about the violations of fundamental
rights, notably the right to private life and to physical integrity,
faced by transgender people when applying for legal gender recognition;
relevant procedures often require sterilisation, divorce, a diagnosis
of mental illness, surgical interventions and other medical treatments
as preconditions. In addition, administrative burdens and additional
requirements, such as a period of “life experience” in the gender
of choice, make recognition procedures generally cumbersome. Furthermore,
a large number of European countries have no provisions on gender
recognition at all, making it impossible for transgender people
to change the name and gender marker on personal identity documents
and public registers.
4. A number of Council of Europe member States have recently
reformed their legislation on legal gender recognition or are in
the process of doing so. Some regulations are based on the principle
of self-determination and do not require long and complex procedures
or the involvement of medical practitioners or psychiatrists.
5. The Assembly welcomes, in this context, the emergence of a
right to gender identity, first enshrined in the legislation of
Malta, which gives every individual the right to recognition of
their gender identity and the right to be treated and identified
according to this identity.
6. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
member States to:
6.1. as concerns
anti-discrimination legislation and policies:
6.1.1. explicitly
prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in national non-discrimination legislation
and include the human rights situation of transgender people in
the mandate of national human rights institutions, with an explicit
reference to gender identity;
6.1.2. implement international human rights standards, including
the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in this field,
without discrimination on grounds of gender identity;
6.1.3. collect and analyse information and data on the human
rights situation of transgender people, including discrimination
on grounds of gender identity and multiple discrimination, as well as
transphobic intolerance and hate crimes; these data are necessary
for the design and implementation of anti-discrimination legislation
and policies and for the monitoring of their impact;
6.1.4. enact hate crime legislation which affords specific protection
for transgender people against transphobic crimes and incidents;
provide specific training to sensitise law-enforcement officials
and members of the judiciary;
6.1.5. provide effective protection against discrimination on
grounds of gender identity in access to employment in the public
and private sectors and in access to housing, justice and health
care;
6.1.6. involve and consult transgender people and their organisations
when drafting and implementing policy and legal measures which concern
them;
6.2. as concerns legal gender recognition:
6.2.1. develop
quick, transparent and accessible procedures, based on self-determination,
for changing the name and registered sex of transgender people on
birth certificates, identity cards, passports, educational certificates
and other similar documents; make these procedures available for
all people who seek to use them, irrespective of age, medical status,
financial situation or police record;
6.2.2. abolish sterilisation and other compulsory medical treatment,
as well as a mental health diagnosis, as a necessary legal requirement
to recognise a person’s gender identity in laws regulating the procedure
for changing a name and registered gender;
6.2.3. remove any restrictions on the right of transgender people
to remain in an existing marriage upon recognition of their gender;
ensure that spouses or children do not lose certain rights;
6.2.4. consider including a third gender option in identity documents
for those who seek it;
6.2.5. ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary
consideration in all decisions concerning children;
6.3. as concerns gender reassignment treatment and health care:
6.3.1. make gender reassignment procedures, such as hormone treatment,
surgery and psychological support, accessible for transgender people,
and ensure that they are reimbursed by public health insurance schemes;
limitations to cost coverage must be lawful, objective and proportionate;
6.3.2. include transgender people explicitly in suicide prevention
research, plans and measures; explore alternative trans health-care
models, based on informed consent;
6.3.3. amend classifications of diseases used at national level
and advocate the modification of international classifications,
making sure that transgender people, including children, are not labelled
as mentally ill, while ensuring stigma-free access to necessary
medical treatment;
6.4. as concerns information, awareness raising and training:
6.4.1. address the human rights of transgender people and discrimination
based on gender identity through human rights education and training
programmes, as well as awareness-raising campaigns aimed at the
general public;
6.4.2. provide information and training to education professionals,
law-enforcement officers and health-service professionals, including
psychologists, psychiatrists and general practitioners, with regard
to the rights and specific needs of transgender people, with a special
focus on the requirement to respect their privacy and dignity.