Geneva, 21 Feb. United Nations experts today welcomed the recent decision of the Spanish Parliament to approve trans law and abortion reform and underlined that in some respects these initiatives are pioneers in Europe and for this reason they can serve as a model for other States in their progress towards equality.
“Legislative measures such as this address the root causes of the widespread human rights violations against women, girls and LGTBI people,” said the nine experts, five of whom are part of the UN Working Group. United Nations on discrimination against women.
The new laws “must be shielded from the populist appeal that regressive forces may see in exploiting anti-abortion, anti-education and anti-trans discourse,” added the experts, who asked “not to forget “the links between the feminist struggle and that of the LGBTI collective.
The abortion reform makes Spain “the first European country to introduce menstrual leave”, the experts said, who also pointed out that the new measures guarantee safe abortion through public health centers or eliminate the processes of reflection “arbitrarily imposed on women”.
The trans law, they added, harmonizes the Spanish system by legally recognizing gender identity through self-identification, “considered by the UN to be best practice”.
“Contrary to some erroneous accounts, the new system provides legal certainty through the possibility of judicial review, placing the burden of proof appropriately on the appellant and the state, and not on trans or trans people. other people of diverse gender,” they said.
UN experts were involved in drafting these Spanish laws, the statement said, stressing how the legislative changes are “part of an ambitious program for the progress of Spanish society”.
Among the signatories of the press release are also the United Nations special rapporteurs for the right to education (Farida Shaheed), for cultural rights (Alexandra Xanthaki), for violence and sexual or gender discrimination (Víctor Madrigal-Borloz) and for physical and mental health (Tlaleng Mofokeng).