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LGBTIQ-Inclusive Gender-Based Violence Laws

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Gender-based violence remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations worldwide, yet many legal frameworks still fail to protect those most at risk. Although states have a duty to prevent and respond to this violence, laws often overlook the lived realities of LGBTIQ people and other marginalized groups who face both general and identity-specific harms.

Key Points

  • States have an obligation to prevent, address, and remedy gender-based violence — especially for communities most at risk.
  • Gender-based violence laws must protect everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics, and enforcement mechanisms should include non-discrimination provisions.
  • Gender-based violence laws should be comprehensive, survivor-informed, intersectional, and prevention-focused, addressing structural inequalities, social norms, and the stigma that fuels violence.
  • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people experience general forms of gender-based violence as well as identity-specific harms, including conversion practices, intersex genital mutilation, and bias-motivated physical and sexual violence.

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