Self-identification sufficient
to change sex in prison
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 9 (C-Fam) Several United Nations agencies have issued a brief stating that a man who identifies as a woman should be treated as a woman, even in prison, regardless of his legal identity or biological characteristics.
The "principle of self-identification" requires that a person's declared gender identity be legally recognized. Access to gender-segregated spaces such as toilets should be allowed on the basis of self-identification alone. This is a controversial position internationally. Legal sex change without the approval of a judicial officer or medical expert is allowed in 18 countries, most of them in Latin America and Western Europe.
In 2020, the UK abandoned an attempt to introduce "self-identification," maintaining the norm that legal sex change requires a medical assessment and a two-year period to have lived according to the person's chosen gender identity.
Issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity remain highly controversial at the UN General Assembly. Even so, UN agencies have been quick to promote "self-identification" as an international human rights standard without seeking consensus. Similarly, UN agencies have promoted abortion and comprehensive sexuality education as human rights issues, even though they have been repeatedly rejected in international negotiations.
Last year, former High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that "every country in the world 'should recognize the gender of trans people 'solely on the basis of self-identification.'" The UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity – whose entire mandate remains a controversial issue – has also promoted self-identification as a "right" under human rights law.
For people in confined spaces, such as prisons, the stakes of self-identification are much higher. The new technical brief, sponsored by UNODC, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNDP and the World Health Organization, states that prisoners' gender identity must be "recorded as declared", regardless of their legal recognition, documents, genitals, general appearance or gender. Assigned at birth.
The submission addresses ensuring that people who identify as trans have access to housing, showers, bathrooms that match their gender identity, and that accommodations must be made to protect them from violence and psychological stress. However, the potential threat to inmates from biologically male inmates who identify as women is not addressed.
The guidelines state that "gender-affirming" hormones or surgeries should be "treated as a basic health need
and therefore provided free of charge."
The document cites the 2015 "Nelson Mandela Rules" for the treatment of prisoners, which call for "respect for one's self-perceived gender." It is also inspired by the Yogyakarta Principles, which are not an official UN document, but a list of claims compiled by a group of experts and activists. It attempts to frame sexual orientation and gender identity in terms of international human rights obligations, building on the work of treaty bodies. The non-binding recommendations of these expert committees have already been used to
speciously assert that abortion is an international human right.
While inmates identified as transgender may be at risk, so can their fellow inmates, particularly women. A self-identified woman jailed for murder in New Jersey impregnated two inmates before being transferred to a men's facility, and now claims to be "terrified" and afraid of sexual assault and abuse. A New York prisoner identified as transgender has been convicted of raping a woman while incarcerated. The fact that gender "self-identification" in prisons can encourage opportunism is a dangerous blind spot in new guidelines from UN agencies.
The "principle of self-identification" requires that a person's declared gender identity be legally recognized. Access to gender-segregated spaces such as toilets should be allowed on the basis of self-identification alone. This is a controversial position internationally. Legal sex change without the approval of a judicial officer or medical expert is allowed in 18 countries, most of them in Latin America and Western Europe.
In 2020, the UK abandoned an attempt to introduce "self-identification," maintaining the norm that legal sex change requires a medical assessment and a two-year period to have lived according to the person's chosen gender identity.
Issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity remain highly controversial at the UN General Assembly. Even so, UN agencies have been quick to promote "self-identification" as an international human rights standard without seeking consensus. Similarly, UN agencies have promoted abortion and comprehensive sexuality education as human rights issues, even though they have been repeatedly rejected in international negotiations.
Last year, former High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that "every country in the world 'should recognize the gender of trans people 'solely on the basis of self-identification.'" The UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity – whose entire mandate remains a controversial issue – has also promoted self-identification as a "right" under human rights law.
For people in confined spaces, such as prisons, the stakes of self-identification are much higher. The new technical brief, sponsored by UNODC, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNDP and the World Health Organization, states that prisoners' gender identity must be "recorded as declared", regardless of their legal recognition, documents, genitals, general appearance or gender. Assigned at birth.
The submission addresses ensuring that people who identify as trans have access to housing, showers, bathrooms that match their gender identity, and that accommodations must be made to protect them from violence and psychological stress. However, the potential threat to inmates from biologically male inmates who identify as women is not addressed.
The guidelines state that "gender-affirming" hormones or surgeries should be "treated as a basic health need
and therefore provided free of charge."
The document cites the 2015 "Nelson Mandela Rules" for the treatment of prisoners, which call for "respect for one's self-perceived gender." It is also inspired by the Yogyakarta Principles, which are not an official UN document, but a list of claims compiled by a group of experts and activists. It attempts to frame sexual orientation and gender identity in terms of international human rights obligations, building on the work of treaty bodies. The non-binding recommendations of these expert committees have already been used to
speciously assert that abortion is an international human right.
While inmates identified as transgender may be at risk, so can their fellow inmates, particularly women. A self-identified woman jailed for murder in New Jersey impregnated two inmates before being transferred to a men's facility, and now claims to be "terrified" and afraid of sexual assault and abuse. A New York prisoner identified as transgender has been convicted of raping a woman while incarcerated. The fact that gender "self-identification" in prisons can encourage opportunism is a dangerous blind spot in new guidelines from UN agencies.
