A/HRC/19/41
on grounds of public safety. The Court stated that “mere existence of a risk is insufficient
for banning the event”.125
65.
Special procedures have raised concerns regarding restrictions on freedom of
expression – including direct censorship, bans on dissemination of information and
restrictions on legitimate advocacy – purportedly justified on grounds of alleged threats to
public health, morality or State security.126 Restrictions on information on sexual
orientation, including those allegedly intended to protect “public decency”, can have a
deleterious impact on public health efforts, including in relation to transmission of the HIV
virus.127
E.
Discriminatory practices in the family and community
66.
While families and communities are often an important source of support,
discriminatory attitudes within families and communities can also inhibit the ability of
LGBT people to enjoy the full range of human rights. Such discrimination manifests itself
in various ways, including through individuals being excluded from family homes,
disinherited, prevented from going to school, sent to psychiatric institutions, forced to
marry, forced to relinquish children, punished for activist work and subjected to attacks on
personal reputation. In many cases, lesbians, bisexual women and transgender people are
especially at risk owing to entrenched gender inequalities that restrict autonomy in
decision-making about sexuality, reproduction and family life.128
67.
Family or community members often enforce gender norms and punish
transgressions. In 1997, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted, “the
community may also be the site of restrictions on and regulations of female sexuality …
Women who …live out their sexuality in ways other than heterosexuality are often
subjected to violence and degrading treatment.”129 United Nations mechanisms and nongovernmental organizations have documented a range of gender-specific violations targeted
at women – including forced marriage, forced pregnancy, and rape in marriage – some of
125
126
127
128
129
European Court of Human Rights, Alekseyev v. Russia, applications Nos. 4916/07, 25924/08 and
14599/09, judgement of 21 October 2010, paras. 75-76. See the concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee on the Russian Federation (CCPR/C/RUS/CO/6), para. 27. See also
Baczkowski and Others v. Poland, application no. 1543/06, 3 May 2007, para. 64.
See A/58/380, paras. 6, 11-12 and 15-20; A/HRC/4/37, para. 95-97; A/HRC/4/37/Add.1, para. 402;
and E/CN.4/2002/72, para. 57. See also the joint statement of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health (on Nigeria), available from
www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=5599&LangID=E (accessed 10
November 2011); and A/HRC/14/23/Add.1, para. 1401-1405 (on Lithuania).
UNAIDS, Getting to Zero: 2011-2015 Strategy.
See E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.5, para. 13, E/CN.4/2002/83, paras. 99-105, E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.3, para.
51 and A/HRC/4/34/Add.3, para. 34. See also CEDAW/C/GUA/CO/7, para. 19; and Fourth World
Conference on Women, Beijing Platform for Action, para. 96. Discriminatory attitudes are also
sometimes reflected in decisions regarding child custody; for example, the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights has admitted a case concerning a lesbian mother and her daughters seeking redress for
a decision by the Chilean authorities to deny custody based on sexual orientation: see Karen Atala
and Daughters v. Chile, Case 1271-04, report No. 42/08, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.130 Doc. 22, rev. 1 (2008).
E/CN/4/1997/47, para. 8.
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