Huge thanks to the NZ Human Rights Commission for their newly released report PRISM.
”Prism explores six human rights issues relating to people with a diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
It highlights that ”The human rights principle of self-declaration for identity documents is not yet fully implemented; it applies for passport and drivers’ licence records but not for birth certificates.”
The report makes 31 recommendations for resolving the six disparities in human rights for people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.
SOGIESC stands for Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics.
Summary of Findings:
THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION (ARTICLE 2, UDHR)
• The Human Rights Act 1993 does not provide explicit legal protection from discrimination with regards to gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. • Overt and subtle forms of discrimination are widespread against people with an actual or perceived diverse SOGIESC, and they are more likely to become victims of crime.
THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION (ARTICLE 19, UDHR)
• Unmet information needs are a considerable obstacle for the identification and resolution of issues concerning people with a diverse SOGIESC. • Data collection does not currently reflect a human rights-based approach. This is particularly clear in response options that limit diverse answers and the ability of SOGIESC-diverse people to be counted.
THE RIGHT TO RECOGNITION BEFORE THE LAW (ARTICLE 16, ICCPR)
• New Zealand’s official identity documents contain sex/gender information which can be difficult to correct for transgender, non-binary, and intersex people. • The human rights principle of self-declaration for identity documents is not yet fully implemented; it applies for passport and drivers’ licence records but not for birth certificates. • The current process to amend sex on a birth certificate requires meeting a medical threshold and the involvement of the Family Court, presenting barriers to having a child, enrolling in school, getting married, and other areas of life.
THE RIGHT TO THE HIGHEST ATTAINABLE STANDARD OF HEALTH (ARTICLE 12, ICESCR)
• Surgical interventions not required for the preservation of life continue to be performed on people with diverse sex characteristics before an age at which they can consent to these procedures. • People with a diverse SOGIESC have poorer physical and mental health outcomes than the general population. • Healthcare practitioners and providers often lack the training to meet the needs of SOGIESC-diverse service users. • Gender affirming healthcare is difficult to access and highly dependent on geographical residence.
THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION (ARTICLE 26, UDHR)
• Young people have a right to learn about diversity in SOGIESC. The New Zealand Curriculum allows for such learning within health education, but this is not adequately integrated into practice in schools. • For youth with a diverse SOGIESC, school is often not a safe environment in which they can thrive and learn. • Youth with a diverse sexual orientation or gender identity are, respectively, three and four-and-a-half times as likely as other students to be bullied.
THE RIGHT TO WORK (ARTICLE 23, UDHR)
• People with a diverse SOGIESC experience discrimination and bullying in the workplace. • The most common complaint received by the Human Rights Commission on the ground of sexual orientation is related to discrimination in employment. • A significant percentage of people with a diverse SOGIESC do not feel safe enough or fear discrimination at work or when applying for jobs. They often conceal their identities or partners for fear of discrimination if these details are disclosed to others in their work environments.
So important to name specifically Transgender, as well as Rainbow people as priority groups for Mental Health and Addictions, and make sure we are on the Ministerial work plans for national and regional policies.
We want to see trans led organisations training DHBs on providing appropriate mental health and addictions support for trans populations, rainbow orgs training DHBs on rainbow issues, and we want more than just a token workshop and a box ticked.
Thanks Robyn, Waiatamai, and Kieran at the Ministry of Health for meeting with us today.
Our presentation from the New Zealand Sexual Health Society Conference 2019.
This presentation is free to use for transgender health advocacy. Please credit Gender Minorities Aotearoa, Wellington, 2019. Statistics quoted in this presentation are from the 2019 national transgender health report Counting Ourselves.
Released for Trandgender Awareness Week #TransgenderAwarenessWeek #TransAwarenessWeek
Counting Ourselves, a national report on transgender health, has just been released.
The survey had 1,178 participants, from all regions of Aotearoa, ranging from 14 to 83 years old.
The research, funded by the Health Research Council and with support from University of Waikato and Rule Foundation, found that trans people experience discrimination at more than double the rate of the general population, almost half of trans people had someone attempt to have sex with them against their will since age 13, and almost a third reported someone did have sex with them against their will since age 13. Participants reported high or very high levels of psychological distress at a rate nine times that of the general population. In the last 12 months, more than half had seriously considered suicide, and 12% had attempted suicide.
key findings
Medical
In the last 12 months, 13% of participants were asked unnecessary or invasive questions during a health visit
17% reported they had experienced reparative therapy (a professional had tried to stop them from being trans)[note: sometimes called “conversion therapy”]
36% avoided seeing a doctor to avoid being disrespected
Stigma, Discrimination, and Violence
67% had experienced discrimination at some point
44% had experienced discrimination in the last 12 months – this was more than double the rate for the general population (17%)
21% were bullied at school at least once a week, much higher than the general population (5%)
83% did not have the correct gender marker on their New Zealand birth certificate
32% reported someone had had sex with them against their will since they were 13
47% reported someone had attempted to have sex with them against their will since they were 13
Compared to the general population, participants were almost three times more likely to have put up with feeling cold (64%) and gone without fresh fruit or vegetables (51%) in order to reduce costs.
Distress and Suicide
71% reported high or very high psychological distress, compared with only 8% of the general population in Aotearoa New Zealand
56% had seriously thought about attempting suicide in the last 12 months
37% had attempted suicide at some point
12% had made a suicide attempt in the last 12 months
Participants who reported that someone had had sex with them against their will were twice as likely to have attempted suicide in the past year (18%) than participants who did not report this (9%)
Participants who had experienced discrimination for being trans or non-binary were twice as likely to have attempted suicide in the past year (16%) than participants who did not report this discrimination (8%)
Participants’ rate of cannabis use in the last year (38%) was more than three times higher than the general population (12%)
Protective Factors
57% reported that most or all of their family supported them. Respondents supported by at least half of their family were almost half as likely to attempt suicide (9%).
62% were proud to be trans, 58% provided support to other trans people, and 56% felt connected with trans community.
Our fantastic 2019 resource, Supporting Aotearoa’s Rainbow People, is a practical guide for mental health professionals who are working with transgender or other Rainbow patients, or who simply want to upskill and understand with sensitivity some of the barriers for rainbow people in accessing mental health services.
Written by Gloria Fraser, with co-design from Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT, and RainbowYOUTH, the resource follows on from our research into the experiences of LGBTQI+ people in Aotearoa New Zealand, who have accessed or attempted to access mental health support services. It is available in te reo Maori, mandarin Chinese, and English, and can be downloaded here.
The Rainbow Mental Health Support Experiences Study – Summary of Findings – is out now!
This fantastic research from Gloria Fraser, with co-design from Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT, and RainbowYOUTH, is some of the best research in Aotearoa on Rainbow populations and mental health.
”The average waiting time between first requesting hormone therapy, and first being given hormones, was 47 weeks.
Of the people who saw a mental health professional for an assessment in order to access gender affirming health care:
”68% reported that the person doing the assessment had respected and validated their gender, but 62% said they felt pressure to conform to a dominant narrative during their assessment, e.g. having a binary identity, knowing they were trans from an early age, or feeling “trapped in the wrong body”.
”This suggests that though many individual professionals [are] providing good support to their clients, professionals must still ask outdated questions because of systemic demands.
”Over a quarter of participants who tried to access gender-affirming healthcare had been denied it. The most common reason they were given for this was that they needed to be more mentally well to access care. This was followed by being told they needed to think about it for longer, and needed to lower their BMI or lose weight
