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Government’s treatment Of trans people in UK may violate the European Convention on human rightsA human rights expert has warned.
Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, said New guidance in view of Supreme Court’s decision Trans people should not relegate them to an “intermediate zone…not exactly one gender or the other”.
In a letter to Sarah Owen, chair of Parliament’s women and equalities committee, and David Elton, chair of the joint committee on human rights, Mr O’Flaherty Said MPs in Britain have seen “Human rights of different groups as a zero-sum game”.
“This has contributed to narratives that are based on prejudice against trans people and portray upholding their human rights as a real threat to the rights of others,” she said.
He further said that this approach “risks drawing certain conclusions from the UK Supreme Court decision that could lead to widespread exclusion of trans people from many public spaces”.
“This, in turn, can have a serious impact on their ability to participate fully and equally in society,” he said.
Mr O’Flaherty said that under the new guidance trans people could be forced to “habitually out themselves in public” to access services, a potential breach of their right to private life under Article Eight of the ECHR.
He added: “Beyond privacy concerns, being forced to disclose the sex they were assigned at birth could significantly increase the likelihood of people being subjected to harassment, abuse and even violence.”
The watchdog said the debate about trans rights should not detract from efforts to prevent violence against women and girls and achieve greater gender equality. But he said the current debate focuses on restricting the human rights and freedoms of trans people.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has drafted new guidance for companies and public bodies to follow following the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year that trans women are not legally recognized as women under the Equality Act (2010).
Draft guidance submitted for consultation over the summer warns that if a service is “provided only to women and trans women or only to men and trans men, it is not a different-gender or single-gender service under the Equality Act 2010”.
The EHRC has shared its updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Works and Associations with the Equalities Minister for approval following a consultation over the summer. But in theory, Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson could reject the draft and ask the EHRC to redraft it.
It is expected that schools, hospitals, leisure centers and cinemas will be asked to ban trans women from using single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms.
Hundreds of organizations have written to the government warning that the guidance is “impractical” and will “cause significant economic harm”.
In a recent paper, seen by IndependentThe firms, including Ben & Jerry’s and Lush, said: “The proposals made in the EHRC’s draft code of practice under the Equality Act will have serious and far-reaching consequences for UK businesses, our employees and our customers.
“Any final code similar to this draft will tell organizations that we must adopt practices that are inconsistent with modern business values, create impractical operational challenges and cause significant economic harm.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are clear that laws are in place to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment.
“We proudly maintain a strong legislative framework. Trans people remain protected on the basis of gender reassignment, protected by reassigned characteristics written into the Equality Act. This was true before the decision, and the Supreme Court underlined this. We have never supported self-ID.
“We have a process in place when it comes to a person changing their legal gender under that process.”
Following the UK visit, Mr O’Flaherty also wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, warning that the government’s decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group, as well as the planned crackdown on protesters wearing facemasks, could breach the convention.