Brussels wants to ban conversion therapies against the LGBTIQ+ community.
Only eight of the 27 member states have banned these practices, which UN representatives have described as torture.
BrusselsConversion therapies are only prohibited in eight of the 27 member states of the European Union, and according to data from the European Commission, one in four Europeans from the LGBTIQ+ community has been a victim of these practices, which involve physical or sexual violence, verbal abuse, or humiliation, and which UN representatives described as torture. For this reason, Brussels announced this Wednesday its intention to ban them and put an end to them once and for all. "This must stop," European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib stressed at a press conference.
Brussels is taking up the challenge of a citizens' initiative calling for legislative measures against these practices, although it has not announced exactly what proposals it will present. However, it assures that it will be based on this popular petition, which urges the European Union to reform EU regulations to prohibit this practice throughout Europe.
Specifically, the initiative calls on the European Union to add conversion practices to the list of crimes recognized at EU level and to amend the current equality directive (2008) to include their prohibition. Along the same lines, it urges the EU to reform the directive on victims' rights to establish minimum standards on the rights, support, and protection of victims of these conversion practices.
The European Commissioner for Equality has assured that she will work together with countries to end these alleged therapies and that under no circumstances will she override state powers. However, she lamented that they are only prohibited in eight member states and that this has only been the case for a few years.
In fact, Spain was one of the last member states to ban these practices in 2023. The first was Malta in 2016. Countries such as Germany, France, Portugal, and Belgium have also taken this measure, and a legislative proposal to this effect is currently being processed and negotiated in the Netherlands. In contrast, no Eastern European country has banned them, and there are no plans for them to do so.
Although the State approved the prohibition of these practices, it has not yet imposed any sanctions on those who carry them out. "We have a lot of documentation and we must determine if there should be any sanctions," explain sources from the Ministry of Equality in the ARA. However, the same sources indicate that the Moncloa is already processing a case regarding the complaint filed by the Spanish Association against Conversion Therapies against "the workshops to change sexual orientation held in seven Spanish dioceses." among which is that of Barcelona.
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Furthermore, the European Commission has also proposed doubling funding for the protection of the LGBTIQ+ community in the next European budget, up to €3.6 billion. With this money, the EU Department of Equality aims to increase initiatives and measures to reduce the harassment and aggression suffered by the community, especially those affecting minors online. According to the European Commission itself, currently one in three LGBTIQ+ people has been a victim of some form of discrimination. In the case of transgender people, the proportion will be at least one in two.