Mr. Heller, Human Rights Watch welcomes the many recommendations in your report that promote gender equality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation. Our research from around the world reflects many of the issues you raise concerning the ways in which inadequate access to water and sanitation, and a poor environment for good hygiene, has specific impact on women and girls and undermines many of their human rights. This includes their rights to an adequate standard of living, education, health, work, freedom from violence, and non-discrimination.
As you are aware, transgender and gender non-conforming people confront extremely high rates of violence and discrimination in their daily lives. For example, our research from Malaysia, Japan and the United States demonstrate transgender children may face bullying and harassment in school when forced to use toilets that correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth. Every encounter with a system that segregates by gender—ranging from a document checkpoint to toilet facilities to detention facilities— poses risk and humiliation, pitting their right to security against their right to freedom of expression. While some countries have made progress on respecting the rights of transgender people to be recognized before the law in the gender with which they self-identify, the vast majority of governments impose prohibitive obstacles to changing one’s gender on legal documents or do not allow such changes at all. Restrictive legal gender recognition policies severely impact transgender peoples’ ability to access basic services, including water and sanitation.
Absent legal recognition and associated protections according to their gender identity, the discrimination faced by transgender individuals can become particularly acute when using a toilet. Transgender individuals can face harassment and violence when forced to relieve themselves in restrooms where there is little to no privacy or that are not safe.
Human Rights Watch believes that a crucial step toward realizing safe and equal access to sanitation facilities is to ensure that legal gender recognition policies are available in all countries and are predicated on the self-declaration of individuals, not the adjudication of any medical or other “expert” body.
Mr. Heller, what concrete steps do you believe States can take to implement your recommendation to prevent, investigate and remedy discrimination and violence based on gender identity?
