Preventing and combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 3 October 2024 (31st sitting) (see Doc. 16043, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 3 October 2024 (31st sitting).
1. Despite major progress on the protection
of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)
persons in recent years, attacks seeking to deny these rights or
withdraw them have increased in Europe. For a long time, lesbian,
bisexual and queer (LBQ) women have been sidelined and are now especially targeted
by anti-gender movements, which attack women’s rights and the rights
of LGBTI persons, and attempt to silence them or deny them their
legitimate place in public spaces.
2. LBQ women experience stigma and discrimination based on gender,
sexual orientation and their specific identity as women who do not
conform to societal expectations, stereotypical gender-related roles
or so-called standards of femininity. They may be victims of physical,
verbal and psychological violence, including so-called “honour”
crimes seeking to deny their sexual orientation, punish them for
assuming it or control their bodies. Other prejudices may also interact,
depending for example on racial or ethnic origin, gender identity,
gender expression and sex characteristics, disability, age and social
class. Prejudice and stigma can affect access to employment, housing,
healthcare, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the private
and family life of LBQ women. Thus, preventing and combating violence
and discrimination against LBQ women is a human rights issue.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly denounces the instrumentalisation
of the rights of LGBTI persons for political purposes and the hate
speech targeting LGBTI persons. It deplores the actions taken by
State structures to undermine LGBTI persons, including LBQ women,
such as support for anti-equality demonstrations and the adoption
of decrees or laws seeking to restrict the rights of LGBTI persons
or prevent the dissemination of information. The Assembly recognises
that lesbian transgender women and racialised LBQ women are subject
to particularly violent attacks, and that sexism, racism, biphobia,
transphobia and lesbophobia can result in intersecting forms of
discrimination. The Assembly asserts that everyone has their place
in society and that attempts to impose heteronormativity and self-effacement
must end. The assertion and protection of the rights of LGBTI persons,
including LBQ women, do not remove other people’s rights.
4. Policies designed to protect the rights of LGBTI persons do
not always take into account the specific challenges faced by LBQ
women. The Assembly supports the protection and promotion of the
rights of LBQ women in all their diversity, and the fight against
hate speech on any ground, and calls for respect for all identities.
Parliamentarians have a key role to play in the fight against hate
speech targeting LGBTI persons and can take part in the activities
of the Parliamentary Platform for the rights of LGBTI people in
Europe. In this connection, the Assembly refers to its
Resolutions 2543 (2024) “Freedom
of expression and assembly of LGBTI people in Europe”, 2417 (2022)
“Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe”, 2465 (2022) “The
fight for a level playing field – Ending discrimination against
women in the world of sport” and 2395 (2021) “Strengthening the
fight against so-called ‘honour’ crimes”.
5. Promotion of respect for all, in all their diversity, can
be achieved in particular through the education system, which should
be a force for progress and a setting in which everyone can be themselves.
Information campaigns and expressions of strong political support
for measures to combat all forms of discrimination, taking account
of their intersectional dimension, are needed. The Assembly stresses
the importance of providing access to inclusive school programmes
that integrate diversity.
6. The national bodies responsible for equality issues play a
major part in combating violence and discrimination against LBQ
women. The Assembly calls for their role to be recognised and for
them to be given political and financial support.
7. The Council of Europe has played a pioneering role in protecting
the rights of LGBTI persons, including LBQ women. The Assembly highlights
the importance of implementing Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 of the
Committee of Ministers to member states on measures to combat discrimination
on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. It welcomes
the progress made over the last ten years, including the creation
of a Committee of Experts on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity
and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (ADI-SOGIESC). It calls
on member States to support the committee’s work, including the
preparation of an initial Council of Europe strategy on the protection
of the rights of LGBTI persons.
8. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
the member and observer States of the Council of Europe and States
whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy status
with the Assembly to:
8.1 adopt,
finance and implement national strategies to protect the rights
of LGBTI persons, prepared in co-operation with organisations representing
LGBTI persons and including specific measures for LBQ women;
8.2 recognise the specific features of LBQ women’s access
to their rights and ensure that laws on women’s rights take them
into account;
8.3 implement robust legislation against discrimination and
ensure that it contains specific provisions on discrimination on
grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression
and sex characteristics, and takes account of the intersectional
dimension;
8.4 implement the judgments of the European Court of Human
Rights on the rights of LGBTI persons, including LBQ women;
8.5 adopt a zero-tolerance policy on hate crimes and hate
speech against LGBTI persons, including LBQ women, to prosecute
and, where appropriate, punish perpetrators of violence motivated
by prejudices against them, to intensify measures to combat online
anti-LGBTI hate and prosecute the perpetrators thereof;
8.6 repeal legislative and constitutional amendments designed
to restrict the rights and freedoms of LGBTI persons, including
LBQ women, and to prohibit conversion practices and forced sterilisation;
8.7 guarantee access to information for all on diversity of
sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex
characteristics, to combat disinformation campaigns on LBQ women
and to repeal “anti-LGBTI propaganda” laws;
8.8 recognise the parental rights of the second parent in
same-sex couples, in the child’s best interest;
8.9 recognise the right of same-sex couples to marry or at
least to contract a civil union giving them access to the same rights
as marriage, to recognise marriages of same-sex couples celebrated
abroad so as to be able to transfer social security rights, and
to guarantee the payment of survivor’s pensions;
8.10 recognise fears of persecution on the grounds of sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics
as grounds to grant asylum, and support asylum requests from LGBTI persons
forced to flee their country for these reasons.
9. With regard to assistance for LBQ women who are victims of
violence and discrimination, the Assembly calls on the member and
observer States of the Council of Europe and States whose parliaments
enjoy observer or partner for democracy status with the Assembly
to:
9.1 ratify, if they have not
already done so, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing
and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS
No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”) and to implement it;
9.2 implement Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 of the Committee
of Ministers to member States on combating hate speech, Recommendation
CM/Rec(2024)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on
combating hate crime and General Policy Recommendation No. 17 of
the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on
preventing and combating intolerance and discrimination against
LGBTI persons;
9.3 train police officers, social workers and judicial authorities
on the proper reception of LBQ women victims of violence or discrimination;
9.4 finance specific programmes to support LBQ women, including
those consisting of providing emergency shelters.
10. With regard to combating prejudice, the Assembly calls on
the member and observer States of the Council of Europe and States
whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy status
with the Assembly to:
10.1 protect
the freedom of expression and visibility of LBQ women in public
spaces and support pride marches;
10.2 support inclusive emotional and sexual education programmes
that integrate diversity in schools;
10.3 finance cultural and education programmes supporting respect
for diversity and combating sexist stereotypes and hate speech targeting
LGBTI persons, including LBQ women;
10.4 encourage the establishment of inclusive policies in the
private and public sectors;
10.5 support research and data collection on violence and discrimination
against LBQ women;
10.6 run awareness-raising campaigns on combating prejudice,
discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons, including LBQ
women;
10.7 support non-governmental organisations working to protect
the rights of LBQ women in all their diversity and to consult them
when drafting policies regarding LBQ women.
11. With regard to access to healthcare, the Assembly calls on
the member and observer States of the Council of Europe and States
whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy status
with the Assembly to:
11.1 train
health professionals on the proper reception of LBQ patients and
ask them to take into account the diversity of patient profiles
and life journeys;
11.2 guarantee equitable access to healthcare without discrimination
to all LBQ patients, including in medically assisted procreation
services, and recognise the importance of mental healthcare for
all.
12. The Assembly encourages national parliaments to celebrate
International Lesbian Visibility Day on 26 April and to co-operate
with organisations protecting LBQ women’s rights.
