Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions 3.5.2. No gender recognition provisions The vast majority of transgender people in the Asia Pacific region are unable to obtain official documents issued with their appropriate name and/or sex, matching their gender identity. In some countries, there are no laws or policies enabling transgender people to amend identity documents. No country in the Pacific allows a transgender person to change sex details on these documents and only a small number, including Fiji, Niue and Tonga, allow someone to change their name legally. In an April 2014 submission on the new Draft Fiji Constitution, and in a discussion about gender identity and the law at the Attorney-General’s 2014 conference in Fiji, the Amithi Fiji Project called for legal gender recognition without any medical requirements.201 In South East Asia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia have no gender recognition laws or policies. In a May 2015 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health recommended that Malaysia: Legally recognize the gender identity of transgender people and prohibit any discrimination on the basis of gender identity in all areas, including health, education, employment and access to public services.202 3.5.3. Provisions that require medical steps resulting in sterilisation In some situations, the process for amending details on official documents may lead to subsequent human rights violations. For example, transgender people may be required to undergo gender reassignment surgeries that result in sterilisation. Sterilisation without full, free and prior informed consent has been described by human rights bodies as an involuntary, coercive and/or forced practice. It violates the right to health, the right to information, the right to privacy, the right to decide on the number and spacing of children, the right to found a family and the right to be free from discrimination.203 The UN Special Rapporteur on torture has explicitly noted that “in many countries transgender persons are required to undergo often unwanted sterilization surgeries as a prerequisite to enjoy legal recognition of their preferred gender”.204 In 2013, the Special Rapportueur recommended that all States outlaw forced or coerced sterilisation in all circumstances and provide special protection to marginalised groups, including transgender people.205 In a January 2016 report, the Special Rapporteur called on States to “adopt transparent and accessible legal gender recognition procedures and abolish requirements for sterilization and other harmful procedures as preconditions”.206 Other human rights bodies have also recommended removing any compulsory sterilisation requirements from gender recognition laws.207 An April 2014 decision from the Indian Supreme Court, National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, cited the provision in the Yogyakarta Principles that “no one shall be forced to undergo medical procedures, including sex reassignment surgery, sterilisation or hormonal therapy, as a requirement for legal recognition of their gender identity”.208 There is uncertainty about the extent to which the judgement 56 201 A Valenza, ‘Call for Legal Recognition for Trans People in Fiji’ 2014 at: http://ilga.org/call-for-the-legal-recognition-of-transpeople-in-fiji/. 202 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Addendum, Visit to Malaysia (19 November – 2 December 2014), 2015, A/HRC/29/33/Add.1 para 111(r). 203 OHCHR, UN Women, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and World Health Organization, Eliminating forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization: an interagency statement, 2014. 204 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 2013, A/HRC/22/53. 205 Ibid, paras. 78 and 88. 206 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 2016, A/HRC/31/57, para. 72(h). 207 Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by states parties, 2008, CAT/C/GC/2, para. 21; Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20: Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, 2009, E/C.12/GC/20, para. 32; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Concluding Observations: the Netherlands, 2010, CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/5; Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, Gender Identity and Human Rights: Issue Paper, 2009. 208 National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, WP (Civil) No 604 of 2013 at http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/outtoday/ wc40012.pdf, referring to Yogyakarta Principles, Principle 3.