CSOs urge the Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert on violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity during its 59th session
In every region of the world, widespread, grave, and systematic violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity persist.
These include: killings and extrajudicial executions; criminalization; stigmatization; hate speech; denial of self-defined gender identity; disinformation campaigns; repression of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, religion or belief; attacks and restrictions on human rights defenders and discrimination in all spheres of life — including in employment, healthcare, housing, education and cultural traditions.
In 2016, the United Nations’ Human Rights Council took definitive action to systematically address these abuses, creating an Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
Since then, mandate holders have extensively documented discrimination and violence based on SOGI; they also sent over 171 communications documenting allegations of violations, and carried out 10 country visits.
The mandate has welcomed progress and identified best practices from all regions, while engaging in constructive dialogue and assisting States to implement international human rights standards, as well as collaborating with UN mechanisms.
In 2022, the renewal of this mandate was supported by more than 56 States from all regions of the globe and by 1’256 non-governmental organisations from 149 States and territories. This growing support is evidence of the critical importance of this mandate and its work to persons of diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities, and those who defend their rights, both at international human rights fora and at the grassroots level.
Despite these advances, over 64 countries still criminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts and more than 10 criminalise diverse gender expressions and identities. Furthermore, at least 5,000 trans people were reported murdered between 2008 and 2024. This is unfolding amid a growing global anti-gender movement that weaponizes trans, gender diverse, broader LGBTQI, and feminist communities and issues. This movement spreads disinformation and distorts concepts such as gender and human rights to advance broader agendas aimed at gaining power and reinstating antidemocratic political systems.
A decision by Council Members to renew this mandate would send a clear message that violence and discrimination against people of diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities cannot be tolerated. It would reaffirm that specific, sustained and systematic attention continues to be crucial to address these human rights violations and ensure that LGBT people are in fact free and equal in dignity and rights.
We, the (number coming soon) NGOs from (number coming soon) States and territories around the world, urge this Council to ensure we continue building a world where everyone can live free from violence and discrimination.
