This Library Note has been written to support the House of Lords debate on the global treatment of LGBTI citizens.
Treatment of LGBTI Citizens Worldwide (762 KB , PDF)
On 15 April 2013, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon denounced all forms of violence against individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He spoke of the need to speak out against human rights abuses inflicted against LGBTI citizens, and committed to a global campaign addressing the issue. The United Nations first published a resolution specifically focused on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity in 2011, and published a subsequent resolution re-emphasising their stance in 2014.
The United Nations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association have recently published findings suggesting that:
This Library Note looks at the protections operated by the United Nations in respect of LGBTI citizens’ human rights, and highlights the organisation’s findings as to the global extent of violence and discrimination against LGBTI individuals. It also contains information from other organisations, such as the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, and—where appropriate—briefly highlights the LGBTI rights and protections in the United Kingdom.
Treatment of LGBTI Citizens Worldwide (762 KB , PDF)
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill is a private member’s bill that has government support. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Equality Act 2010 to make employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties (such as customers or clients) and to introduce a specific duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees.
Before an employer can make an employee on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave redundant, redundancy protection regulations require an employer to give that employee first refusal on a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill would give the secretary of state powers to introduce regulations that would enable redundancy protections to apply from the point an employee told their employer that they were pregnant, and six months after returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Pensions dashboards are new online services that will allow individuals to see information about their pensions online. The Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 place certain obligations on pension schemes, including a requirement to connect to the dashboard services. The Pensions Regulator has the power to issue a financial penalty for any breach of the regulations. The Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill would make it a criminal offence for occupational or personal pension scheme trustees or managers who receive a financial penalty under the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 to reimburse themselves with pension scheme assets.
