UN Human Rights Council 50: UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on Health

Thank you, Mr President.

The UK thanks the Special Rapporteur for her report on ‘Violence and its impact on the right to health’, including on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.

As highlighted in the report, outdated discriminatory legislation continues to affect the lives of many people today, criminalising consensual same-sex relations, gender identity and expression, and failing to protect women and girls and the most vulnerable people.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 2018, the UK Government recognised that these laws were often put in place by our own country, and expressed regret at the legacy of discrimination, violence and even death that persists today. These laws were wrong then, and they are wrong now. Nobody should face persecution or discrimination because of who they are or how they express themselves.

The United Kingdom remains committed to continuing its work with governments and civil society to repeal and reform discriminatory legislation and introduce new laws and policies to protect all individuals from violence and persecution.