GENEVA – Policymakers must address the political and statistical invisibility of lesbian, bisexual and queer women, a UN expert said today, warning that these communities face distinct and intersecting forms of violence and discrimination.
“Despite significant diversity in the lived experiences of lesbian, bisexual and queer women, common structural patterns drive their marginalisation,” said Graeme Reid, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, presenting his latest report to the Human Rights Council.
“The rights of lesbian, bisexual and queer women are often mediated through patriarchal institutions and conditioned upon their relationships with men,” Reid said. “This particularly constrains their freedom of movement, housing, land and property rights, access to healthcare and other public services and their rights as parents.”
The report found that lesbian, bisexual and queer women face restricted access to public life, burdened by gendered expectations of providing care labour. The report also noted that workplace discrimination limits their economic potential and, in turn, their ability to live independently, participate in public affairs and be valued as a political constituency. Furthermore, it documented the intersectional discrimination faced by transgender women who identify as lesbian, bisexual or queer, particularly when seeking healthcare and other public services, where many encounter denial of care, invasive and degrading treatment and barriers to gender-affirming care.
Reid noted that visibility and autonomy carry significant risks for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women. “Those who live openly and seek to assert their rights without mediation by men may face violence aimed at enforcing conformity with patriarchal norms, from family members, in public spaces, medical settings, the workplace and at the hands of security forces.”
The report also highlighted the absence of lesbian, bisexual and queer women from official data due to misplaced privacy concerns, statistical methods that separate gender from sexual orientation and underreporting or misclassification.
“This gap leads to their invisibility in public policies, reinforcing a cycle of exclusion,” the expert warned.
The Independent Expert urged States to adopt laws and policies that expand women’s ability to exercise their rights without condition, address violence against women linked to their sexual orientation or gender identity, prohibit discrimination in healthcare and other public services and safeguard lesbian, bisexual and queer human rights defenders. He called on multilateral organisations, national human rights institutions and civil society to collaborate in support of such efforts and to close the data gap.
