Illustration, a protester holds a transgender flag as they take part in a march supporting the election of the” Equality in Civil Marriage” expenses by the Greek parlaiment, at Syntagma, in Athens, Greece, February 2024. Photo: EPA- EFE/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday that Balkan countries have made headway in passing laws that recognize gender identity recognition in recent years, but more work is needed to advance transgender rights, according to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.
A fresh report,” Human rights and gender identity and expression”, released 15 years after the first report by this company on this subject, notes that across Europe transgender people face higher rates of prejudice, violence and uncertainty in their lives.
There is no such item as granting” special” right, and acknowledging the right of trans people does not violate the rights of others. Human rights are widespread: they apply equally to everyone”, the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, said, releasing the document.
In recent years, progress was made in providing methods of gender identity reputation in legislation in 37 Department member state, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Regression has been observed in Hungary and Bulgaria since 2020, though.
However, obtaining Legal Gender Recognition, LGR, in half of the CoE member states requires a mental health diagnosis or psychological evaluation, including in Bosnia, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.
Due to the alleged pathologization of trans people, the Commissioner advises the repeal of these conditions.
In at least 11 member states, legal gender recognition requires sterilisation and invasive physical interventions, which she said violates the right to physical integrity. This is the case in Bosnia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
The Commissioner calls on member states to look into ways to ensure reparation and rehabilitation for those who have previously requested sterilization as a pre-condition for LGR, according to the report, noting that some member states, including Sweden and the Netherlands, have taken such steps.
According to a survey, 72 % of “adult trans people realized that their gender identity did not match the sex assigned at birth before reaching the age of 18,” the issue of legal gender recognition for children is also brought up. This is not the case in Croatia and Montenegro, among other places, despite the majority of European countries prohibiting or restrainting legal gender recognition of children.
According to the report,” Arguments that LGR prematurely or inappropriately medicalizes young people and their bodies are misplaced” and that, regardless of age, no person should be required to undergo physical medical treatment or diagnosis as a precondition for LGR in the first place.
According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project, Turkey is said to have had the highest number of trans people’s murders between 2008 and September 2023, with 65 victims.
Online anti-trans hate speech, media, and political statements have an additional impact on transgender people’s vulnerability.
According to a report released in Greece in 2022, transgender people held in detention are also subject to violence and discrimination from detainees and those in positions of authority.
The document provides 15 recommendations to Council of Europe member states regarding effective policy making, anti- discrimination legislation, healthcare, education, sport, etc.
According to the statement, member states should also take into account individualized experiences because everyone experiences gender identity and expression in various ways.
In terms of trans women in sport, the Commissioner addresses the current contentious public debate. There is no proof that trans women competitors are currently taking the women’s sport by storm, nor is there any proof that male fraudsters are systematically utilizing trans rights for personal gain, according to the report.
