UN experts congratulate Spain on abortion and trans laws
UN Applauds Spain for ‘New Feminist Legislation’ Promoted by Equality Ministry. Nine independent UN experts published a statement on Tuesday in which they celebrate the abortion and trans laws that were finally approved last Thursday and were opposed by the PP and Vox.
The letter states that the reform of the abortion law “was adopted as part of an ambitious agenda for the advancement of Spanish society” and emphasizes that it ensures safe access to public health centers, eliminating so-called “reflection” processes “arbitrarily”. ” established and allows all women, including lesbians, bisexuals and single women, to use assisted reproductive technology. In addition, they recognize Spain as “the first European country to legislate menstrual leave”.
Experts, including the chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, Dorothy Estrada-Tanque, its vice-chair Ivana Radacic, and Meskerem Geset Tekhane and Melissa Upret, who are also members of the team, appreciate that “the history of feminism is one of resilience in the face of social injustice History. ”
The statement was also signed by Darida Shahid, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, and Alexandra Xantaki, Special Rapporteur on cultural rights. Along these lines, the letter emphasizes that thanks to the new legislation promoted by the ministry led by Irene Montero, “comprehensive sexuality education will be part of the compulsory school years and the bodily autonomy of women and girls will be further protected.” In particular”.
Congratulation for the votes, which are part of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the UN’s top body of independent experts, comes days after the Constitutional Court upheld a 2010 rule replacing the new law, which was finally adopted last week, and internal disagreements within the People’s Party over the issue. in the background.
After PP President Alberto Núñez Feijoo’s attempt to change the party’s ideological orientation on abortion, the hard wing tried for the second time to stop its leader. Feijoo wanted to settle the issue by saying that abortion is a right, but not a fundamental one, and reiterated his opposition to 16- and 17-year-old girls not having to tell their parents.
The letter, published this Tuesday, also states that sexual and reproductive rights are being published alongside comprehensive legislation addressing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual characteristics, which is a “genuine national program to promote social inclusion. [de las personas LGTBI] in all sectors.
The statement, featuring the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, and the independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal. Borlozi welcomes the “consolidation of the equal nature of the rights of lesbian mothers, the ban on genital mutilation for intersex children and the adoption of measures to end the practice called ‘conversion’, committed against LGTBI people”.
Pundits are not keeping track of one of the great debates that has opened up a gap in feminism and that has highlighted the process of developing a trans law in the coalition government. “The legislation harmonizes the Spanish system of legal recognition of gender identity through self-identification, which is the best practice revealed by the United Nations,” the letter reads, according to the position of Unidas Podemos and the Ministry of Equality. text and it was finally approved.
“Remove arbitrary, humiliating and harmful obstacles”
“These laws were passed through a thoughtful and participatory parliamentary process that took six years and drew on the advice of UN experts,” said the experts, who pointed out that self-determination for trans people “removes arbitrary, humiliating obstacles and is harmful.” Human personality”.
The announcement came days after the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Rem Alsalem, gave an interview to the newspaper. the world Where she criticized gender self-determination, in line with the female erasure theses, which believe that women’s rights can be limited by the achievement of new recognitions and guarantees for trans people. “Countries should consider that a biological male, once they obtain a certificate of female gender, should be able to access all programs and categories intended for biological females,” he argued.
Speaking to elDiario.es, the person responsible for protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, explains that independent experts and rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council to express their “independent expert opinion. on certain issues”. “We do not express the official position of the United Nations,” he says. Neither does Reem Alsalem.
In this sense, Madrigal-Borloz defends that “uniformly, until now, all the viewpoints of all the speakers and independent experts who have issued an opinion have been that the legal recognition of gender identity leads to self-determination”. This is exactly what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights points out, stating the organization’s position and which already indicated in 2016 that states should provide for transgender people. Simple administrative process for official recognition of gender identity “Through a simple declaration without requirements such as a medical certificate or diagnosis, surgery or medical treatment, divorce or sterilization.”
Madrigal-Borlozi admits that “there is always the possibility of dissident positions, but this does not mean that the opinion of the majority has been violated”, who defends that the recognition of gender identity should be guided by “self-identification as a best practice”. . “One of the fundamental elements is that it allows the legal recognition of gender identity to be depathologized, and this implies humiliating and harmful requirements, such as psychological appointments and medical treatment, which are eliminated by Spanish law,” the expert notes. outside.
“This debate [sobre la autodeterminación] It’s always there because it’s brought up in general with minority positions that try to argue that the rights of trans women are at odds with the rights of other women. I have carefully considered this issue, as it is my mandate as part of the Human Rights Council, and I have come to the conclusion that the risk of violence against women must be managed through state management. Of course, there may be the possibility of violence that a person wants to identify as a woman for purposes that do not correspond to their existential experience as a woman, but this risk must be managed by mechanisms such as judicial control, which the legislation has in Spain. since last week”, says Madrigal-Borlozi.
In this regard, the expert explains that “this judicial control has a very important feature from the point of view of human rights, which is that it returns the burden of proof to the applicant or the state and does not place it on the trans. people”.
In this way, she qualifies that some discourses against gender self-determination seek to “shift the responsibility of managing the risk that is said to exist onto the population of women, which also includes their entire trans population. The problem with this conversation is that it is created and carried out in terms of extreme stigmatization and a deep contempt for the humanity of trans people. It is said that they are all sexual predators, or that they do not exist, or that their choices are not true, or that there are no social reasons for accepting them. The more they are demonized, classified as anti-social, the more they are suspected, despised and seen as people who are not fully human.
Focusing on trans women, the expert says, “is a way of displacing the real responsibility (for violence against women) that lies in power structures and toxic masculinities, gender stigmas and prejudices that are deeply rooted in our society and that only seek. to fight this legislation”.
Source: El Diario
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