Twelve United Nations (UN) entities have released a joint statement calling for an end to violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The joint statement highlights the UN’s inter-agency commitment on working with Member States to protect, respect and fulfil the right of LGBTI people to live free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma. It also calls on countries to repeal discriminatory laws.

LGBTI people face a wide range of human rights violations. The UN and others have documented widespread physical and psychological violence against LGBTI people in all regions, including murder, assault, kidnapping, rape and sexual violence, as well as torture and ill-treatment in institutional and other settings.

In many countries, the response to these violations is inadequate; in others, human rights defenders challenging these violations are frequently persecuted and face restrictions on their activities. The legislative framework can exacerbate the situation, with 76 countries criminalizing consensual same-sex relationships between adults. These laws expose individuals to the risk of arbitrary arrest, prosecution, imprisonment and even the death penalty in at least five countries.

Punitive environments that marginalize LGBTI people also create significant challenges in responding to HIV. Gay men and other men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population, and HIV prevalence among gay men and other men who have sex with men is rising in certain regions, including Asia and the Pacific and Latin America. Transgender women are 49 times more likely to be living with HIV.

In addition to violating the fundamental human rights of LGBTI people, punitive laws severely restrict the ability of LGBTI people to access critical HIV and other health services. Service providers are often forced to stop working, owing to harassment or fear of prosecution.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, re-affirmed his support for LGBTI rights with a message delivered during last year’s UN General Assembly. “The fight for human rights—and the fight against discrimination—lies at the core of the mission of the United Nations. The fight for equal rights demands global engagement. That is why the United Nations actively works to tackle homophobia and transphobia around the world,” he said.

The UN entities that have signed the joint statement on ending violence and discrimination against LGBTI people are: the International Labour Organization (ILO); the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); the World Food Programme (WFP); the World Health Organization (WHO); and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Read the joint statement

An active, vibrant and committed civil society has been the mainstay of the global AIDS response for more than three decades and its role is set to become even more critical with the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals and the HIV Fast-Track agenda. 

The Robert Carr civil society Network Fund (RCNF) has been committed to strengthening international civil society networks that are active in the challenge to HIV, paying particular attention to underserved and marginalized populations. At a top-level meeting during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on 29 September, supporters and donors got together to ensure that the fund is replenished and can continue its vital work.

Co-hosts UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé and US Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Deborah Birx, joined the Fund’s Chair Michel Kazatchkine and other participants.

Mr Sidibé stressed that community-based organizations were the engine of the AIDS response, engaging in advocacy and research, delivering quality services and reaching people left behind.  “Civil society helped break the conspiracy of silence on AIDS.  It’s the watchdog, pushing for results,” noted Mr Sidibé. “In this new phase of sustainable development, linking work for healthy people and a healthy planet, we need civil society to advance accountability and ensure shared responsibility. The Robert Carr Fund has shown we can reach all people, and that we can build the political commitment we need.”

The achievements of the RCNF were showcased throughout the meeting, and several participants representing marginalized communities spoke of how they have benefited. These included the AIDS Rights Alliance of Southern Africa’s Felicita Hikuam and Gai Gurung from Thailand’s Youth Lead.

“By working at the regional level we strengthen the capacity of community-based grass roots groups to implement services, to monitor targets, and identify gaps and advocate to address those gaps,” said Ms Hikuam. “Robert Carr was clear about not working in silos.  With support of the Fund we are able to work across sectors to build solidarity and move issues forward together,” she added.

Ambassador Birx announced the US Government’s new contribution of USD 10 million to the Fund.  “These are the regional organizations that give hope to people at the grass roots. Let’s not underestimate the power of the individual in tackling AIDS.  That’s what these community groups are about, standing up to governments and demanding more.  Resources from the Fund are about lifting up human beings,” said Ms Birx.

The Fund is named in memory of Jamaica’s Dr Robert Carr who played an integral part in furthering the AIDS response and protecting human rights in inadequately served populations on a national, regional and global level.

Young community leaders, United Nations representatives and advocates discussed how young people can make a difference in ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets on HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights can be realized for all, including marginalized young people.

The youth-led event took place on 24 September on the sidelines of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, taking place in New York. It was co-convened by UNAIDS, the Link Up Consortium, Stop AIDS Now, the PACT, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS and the Civil Society Working Group on HIV.

According to the participants, the SDGs will need to include the voices of young people to set national priorities, develop and monitor strategies and indicators, and review processes at all levels for their successful implementation in order to reach the targets.

To ensure that no one is left behind, the participants also stressed the need to set up systems to gather comprehensive data about groups recognized as vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion, as well as other relevant groups.

The common message agreed by all panelists was that youth-led accountability is critical to ensure that governments make progress to achieve the end of the AIDS epidemic and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services.

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United Nations entities call on States to act urgently to end violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)[1] adults, adolescents and children.

All people have an equal right to live free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma. International human rights law establishes legal obligations on States to ensure that every person, without distinction, can enjoy these rights. While welcoming increasing efforts in many countries to protect the rights of LGBTI people, we remain seriously concerned that around the world, millions of LGBTI individuals, those perceived as LGBTI and their families face widespread human rights violations. This is cause for alarm – and action.

Failure to uphold the human rights of LGBTI people and protect them against abuses such as violence and discriminatory laws and practices, constitute serious violations of international human rights law and have a far-reaching impact on society – contributing to increased vulnerability to ill health including HIV infection, social and economic exclusion, putting strain on families and communities, and impacting negatively on economic growth, decent work and progress towards achievement of the future Sustainable Development Goals. States bear the primary duty under international law to protect everyone from discrimination and violence. These violations therefore require an urgent response by governments, parliaments, judiciaries and national human rights institutions. Community, religious and political leaders, workers’ organizations, the private sector, health providers, civil society organizations and the media also have important roles to play. Human rights are universal – cultural, religious and moral practices and beliefs and social attitudes cannot be invoked to justify human rights violations against any group, including LGBTI persons.

PROTECTING INDIVIDUALS FROM VIOLENCE

States should protect LGBTI persons from violence, torture and ill-treatment, including by:

• Investigating, prosecuting and providing remedy for acts of violence, torture and ill-treatment against LGBTI adults, adolescents and children, and those who defend their human rights;
• Strengthening efforts to prevent, monitor and report such violence;
• Incorporating homophobia and transphobia as aggravating factors in laws against hate crime and hate speech;
• Recognizing that persecution of people because they are (or are perceived to be) LGBTI may constitute a valid ground for asylum, and not returning such refugees to a place where their life or freedom might be threatened.

The United Nations and others have documented widespread physical and psychological violence against LGBTI persons in all regions - including murder, assault, kidnapping, rape, sexual violence, as well as torture and ill-treatment in institutional and other setting. LGBTI youth and lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are at particular risk of physical, psychological and sexual violence in family and community settings. LGBTI persons often face violence and discrimination when seeking refuge from persecution and in humanitarian emergencies. They may also face abuse in medical settings, including unethical and harmful so-called "therapies" to change sexual orientation, forced or coercive sterilization, forced genital and anal examinations, and unnecessary surgery and treatment on intersex children without their consent. In many countries, the response to these violations is inadequate, they are underreported and often not properly investigated and prosecuted, leading to widespread impunity and lack of justice, remedies and support for victims. Human rights defenders combatting these violations are frequently persecuted and face discriminatory restrictions on their activities.

REPEALING DISCRIMINATORY LAWS

States should respect international human rights standards, including by reviewing, repealing and establishing a moratorium on the application of:

• Laws that criminalize same-sex conduct between consenting adults;
• Laws that criminalize transgender people on the basis of their gender expression;
• Other laws used to arrest, punish or discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

In 76 countries, laws still criminalize consensual same-sex relationships between adults, exposing individuals to the risk of arbitrary arrest, prosecution, imprisonment – even the death penalty, in at least five countries. Laws criminalizing cross-dressing are used to arrest and punish transgender people. Other laws are used to harass, detain, discriminate or place restrictions on the freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. These discriminatory laws contribute to perpetuating stigma and discrimination, as well as hate crime, police abuse, torture and ill-treatment, family and community violence, and negatively affect public health by impeding access to health and HIV services.

PROTECTING INDIVIDUALS FROM DISCRIMINATION

States should uphold international human rights standards on non-discrimination, including by:

• Prohibiting discrimination against LGBTI adults, adolescents and children in all contexts – including in education, employment, healthcare, housing, social protection, criminal justice and in asylum and detention settings;
• Ensuring legal recognition of the gender identity of transgender people without abusive requirements;
• Combating prejudice against LGBTI people through dialogue, public education and training;
• Ensuring that LGBTI people are consulted and participate in the design, implementation and monitoring of laws, policies and programmes that affect them, including development and humanitarian initiatives.

LGBTI people face widespread discrimination and exclusion in all contexts - including multiple forms of discrimination based on other factors such as sex, race, ethnicity, age, religion, poverty, migration, disability and health status. Children face bullying, discrimination or expulsion from schools on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, or that of their parents. LGBTI youth rejected by their families experience disproportionate levels of suicide, homelessness and food insecurity. Discrimination and violence contribute to the marginalization of LGBTI people and their vulnerability to ill health including HIV infection, yet they face denial of care, discriminatory attitudes and pathologization in medical and other settings. Transgender people are frequently denied legal recognition of their preferred gender or face abusive requirements such as forced sterilization, treatment or divorce to obtain it, without which they suffer exclusion and marginalization. The exclusion of LGBTI people from the design, implementation and monitoring of laws and policies that affect them perpetuates their social and economic marginalization.

UNITED NATIONS SUPPORT

Our organizations stand ready to support and assist Member States and other stakeholders as they work to address the challenges outlined in this statement – including through constitutional, legislative and policy changes, strengthening of national institutions, and education, training and other initiatives to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of all LGBTI people.

[1] While this statement refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, it should also be read to refer to other people who face violence and discrimination on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, including those who may identify with other terms.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

There is widespread recognition that community responses to HIV need to be scaled-up, resourced at much higher levels and integrated into national AIDS plans if UNAIDS Fast-Track targets are to be met by 2020. A new report from UNAIDS and Stop AIDS Alliance provides a summary of existing evidence that shows how community responses result in positive health outcomes and improved quality of life for individuals and communities at large.

Communities deliver shows how community responses reach people in need of prevention, treatment and care through activities such as advocacy, financing, participation in accountability mechanisms, research and the delivery of services. The report provides a categorization of the different types of community responses to HIV and includes illustrative examples of each kind of community action from around the world.

The report is currently available in English and will soon be translated into French, Russian and Spanish.

Ending the AIDS epidemic requires not only increasing HIV prevention and treatment services but also protecting and promoting human rights within the AIDS response, according to participants at a side event of the 29th session of the Human Rights Council, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.

Representatives of governments, civil society and the United Nations highlighted the importance of human rights as a critical component of effective HIV responses and stressed the essential nature of access to justice for people living with HIV and populations most affected by the virus.

In the context of HIV, accessing justice was defined as ensuring that policies and programmes enable people living with and affected by HIV to know their human rights, to mobilize around protective laws, to be protected by the police and to be able to access the justice system if they have been harmed.

Participants identified various steps that stakeholders can take to ensure access to justice within the AIDS response. These include removing discriminatory laws; elimination of HIV-related stigma and discrimination in various sectors, such as health care and employment, and encouraging police and law enforcement to be supportive of key populations’ access to HIV services.

UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures stressed the centrality of human rights within the AIDS response and called for stronger partnerships between HIV and human rights activists, as punitive laws and other rights issues are a collective challenge for all.

The side event was co-organized by Brazil, Netherlands, Poland and UNAIDS.

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New information and communication technologies are changing the way in which gay men and other men who have sex with men meet their sexual partners. Today, men who have sex with men, including those who are not openly gay or who fear stigma, are able to arrange to meet other men, look for entertainment, find health information and mobilize through dating applications, the Internet and other digital media.

Such technologies also represent an important resource for extending the reach and enhancing the effectiveness of HIV prevention programmes among gay men and other men who have sex with men. They hold the potential to drive measurable programmatic improvements by collecting and disseminating information, linking virtual content to physical services and complementing offline components of HIV programmes.

In order to improve the reach of HIV services and the impact of HIV prevention programmes, UNAIDS, in collaboration with the Global Forum on MSM & HIV, the USAID funded LINKAGES programme and Health Policy Project, organized a consultation to develop a framework to engage the private and public sectors and communities in using new media technologies for HIV prevention among gay men and other men who have sex with men.

Participants

The participants included experts in the area of new media and HIV among gay men and other men who have sex with men, including some of the largest private companies that own dating platforms, programme implementers, researchers and advocates.

Key messages

• A number of large, for-profit, gay dating applications and Internet companies with a very large number of clients already support initiatives to foster the health and well-being of their clients. They have the potential to reach people at higher risk of HIV infection with information and refer them to HIV service providers.   
• Public–private partnerships on new media technologies for the health of gay men and other men who have sex with men need to be strengthened. A better understanding of the strengths and limitations of the private and public sectors as well as community organizations and networks is required. 
• Innovative projects are increasingly using new information technologies to strengthen the HIV response among gay men and other men who have sex with men across the project cycle, from planning to implementation to monitoring and evaluation. These need to be evaluated and scaled-up.
• National AIDS programmes need to increasingly include the use of new information and communication technologies in their strategies and policies, build their own information and communications technology capacity and fund such programmes.
• Data safety issues need to be addressed.  
• The use of new media should be included in core HIV packages and programmes; international guidance should be developed regarding minimum standards, training requirements or measures of success.

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Vera Brezhneva, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, has called for zero discrimination during a visit to a centre providing services for people living with HIV in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.

Ms Brezhneva visited the Centre for Social Services for Families and Children in the Krasnoselsky district of the city on the eve of Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March. One of the centre’s main goals is to provide social support for women living with HIV, as well as for their children and other family members.

The centre is part of a pilot project launched by the city of Saint Petersburg that aims to broaden support for people living with HIV. More than 260 people, including pregnant women, former prisoners and drug users, are benefiting from the centre’s services, which include peer-to-peer counselling, care and support. 

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