Advancing Sexual Rights for All

Presently, a number of UN Member States and NGOs are advocating for the Human Rights Council to create a new Special Rapporteur on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). From the perspective of the SRI, the proposed mechanism would be limited in its ability to protect the fundamental rights of people most in need and risks neglecting a range of sexuality and gender related abuses that demand the UN’s attention. Further, it could create false dichotomies and siloes within the interpretation and application of human rights related to sexuality and gender that could set back decades of hard work and progress made on these issues by diverse social movements.

The SRI believes the violations, abuses, discrimination and oppression faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons would be most effectively addressed through a political and legal framing that recognizes the full range of sexual rights as inherent to the constellation of human rights to which every person is entitled. Furthermore, the SRI believes that the articulation of this position at the UN and within various movements is important so that States and civil society actors have an opportunity to consider alternate analyses and viewpoints. This articulation is not intended to and should not be seen to diminish the areas of agreement between progressive movements working on gender and sexuality issues, rather it is healthy part of movement building that seeks to include the experiences of different people, many of whom will be directly impacted by the establishment of any new UN special mechanism.

The Sexual Rights Initiative therefore makes the following recommendations (see PDF) to continue the political and social momentum to effectively integrate human rights related to sexuality orientation and gender identity into the work of the Council.