Later this year the Minister of Justice, the honorable Andrew Little, intends to conduct a Ministerial review into the Human Rights act to incorporate recommendations made at the United Nations.
With just 5 minutes, you can be part of making a massive difference for the legal protection of some very marginalised people, who often don’t get listened to.
The timeframe is tight, so we have developed this easy to understand information and 3 point submission guideline, so you can have your voice heard.
- This is a case where words matter, so please use this terminology to ensure best possible protection: gender identity, gender expression, & sex characteristics.
- Submissions are up to 500 words long – shorter than the number of words on this page. Do not go over the word limit or the submission may not be counted.
- Your submission can be as simple as saying “I wish to see substantial and unambiguous protection for gender identity, gender expression & sex characteristics,” or ”I want complete protection for all people’s gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics,” however you MUST say it in your own words, because a template submission received from 100 people is only counted as one submission with 100 signatures, rather than 100 submissions. Individual submissions make more difference.
The strongest addition you can make, on top of the above, is a short personal story that appeals emotionally, or shows why you personally care about this issue, or why it affects you or someone you care about.
If you only have 5 minutes right now, stop reading and make the submission!
Please your submission by using this online survey
If you have time, you might like to read the recommendations document and include other aspects of the recommendations in your submission, which also help to make a stronger case. For example:
”I would like the New Zealand Government to accept recommendations providing for protection from discrimination and prosecuting hate crimes against SOGISC communities (122.41; 122.48; 122.50).
”I would like the New Zealand Government to accept recommendations asking for the Human Rights Act (1993) to be updated to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics (122.50; 122.51; 122.52).
”I would like the New Zealand Government to accept the recommendation that calls for an end to non-consensual medical procedures which affect intersex persons (122.102)
”I would like the New Zealand Government to accept recommendations that call for better access to health care for the SOGISC communities and other vulnerable groups (122.100; 122.101).
https://www.upr-info.org/…/sessio…/a_hrc_wg.6_32_l.1.pdf