修改日本法律性別承認(rèn)程序的勢(shì)頭

1、Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uph

2、old human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all.Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Sa

3、n Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich.For more information, please visit our website: HYPERLINK / MAY 2021ISBN: 978-1-62313-904-9“The Law Undermines Dignity”Momentum to Revise Japans Legal Gender Recognition ProcessTOC o 1-2 h z u HYPERLINK l _bookmark0 Summary 1 HYPE

4、RLINK l _bookmark1 Recommendations 4 HYPERLINK l _bookmark2 To Members of the Diet 4 HYPERLINK l _bookmark3 To the Ministry of Justice 4 HYPERLINK l _bookmark4 To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 5 HYPERLINK l _bookmark5 To the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare 5 HYPERLINK l _bookmark6 Methodolog

5、y 6 HYPERLINK l _bookmark7 Impact of Japans Gender Recognition Law 7 HYPERLINK l _bookmark35 Japans Legal Gender Recognition Law 16 HYPERLINK l _bookmark48 Mandatory Psychiatric Evaluation 20 HYPERLINK l _bookmark58 Coerced Sterilization and Compulsory Surgery 23 HYPERLINK l _bookmark72 Age Restrict

6、ions 27 HYPERLINK l _bookmark81 Relationship Status and Parental Status Discrimination 30 HYPERLINK l _bookmark82 Enforced Social Conformity 31 HYPERLINK l _bookmark92 Japans Evolving Legal Treatment of Transgender People 34 HYPERLINK l _bookmark103 Gender Identity, Legal Recognition, and Internatio

7、nal Human Rights Standards 38 HYPERLINK l _bookmark121 Acknowledgments 43 HYPERLINK l _bookmark122 Appendix: WPATH Letter to Government of Japan 44SummaryThe gender recognition law is definitely a system that is wrecking transgender peoples dignity as a human being.Saburo N., a transgender man, Kana

8、gawa Prefecture, September 2018Despite increasingly vocal domestic and international criticism, the procedure in Japan for changing an individuals legal gender remains anachronistic and harmful. It rests on an outdated and pejorative notion that a transgender identity is a “mental disorder” and requ

9、ires transgender people who want legal recognition to undergo lengthy, expensive, invasive, and irreversible medical procedures.The relevant lawknown as the Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Actis contrary to international human rights law and international medical best practices, violating fun

10、damental human rights. And while some trans people in Japan want a diagnosis of “Gender Identity Disorder” (性同一性障害) (GID) and to undergo the medical procedures listed in the law, many do not, and should not be required to do so. What is more, the continuance of these medical requirements underpins e

11、xtensive prejudice againsttrans people.“Transgender” is used as an inclusive term for anyone whose sex assigned to them at birth does not conform to their lived or perceived gender. It refers to people for whom the designation as “female” or “male” on their birth certificate does not align with the

12、gender that they are most comfortable expressing or would express if given a choice.This is Human Rights Watchs third report since 2016 to cover transgender issues in Japan. In our 2016 and 2019 reports, we documented the stories of transgender people who described their struggles to fit into rigid

13、school systems designed around strict gender binaries, to seek and obtain employment, to engage healthcare providers, and to raise families in accordance with their basic rights.The existence of a law in Japan allowing transgender people to change their legal gender signals the governments willingne

14、ss to engage with and support transgender people. And the law has provided transgender people with the opportunityalbeit a restricted oneforlegal recognition. Over time, an increasing number of people in Japan have taken the legally prescribed steps and changed their legal gender. In 2019, a record

15、high 948 people were approved for legal gender change, making it a total of 9,625 people who have received the approval during the 15 years since the law came into force.But Japans government needs to urgently address and fundamentally revise the legal recognition process that remains anchored to a

16、diagnostic framework that fails to meet international standards and has been roundly criticized and discredited worldwide.The requirement that a transgender person not have underage children if they wish to secure legal recognition of their gender identity violates transgender peoples right to priva

17、cy and family life. Mandatory surgical interventions amount to coercion. And legal gender recognition is an essential element of other fundamental rights including the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, and rights related to employment, education, health, and the ability to move f

18、reely.For this report, Human Rights Watch interviewed experts and activists who described the momentum behind reforming the GID Special Cases Act, and their frustrations with the governments perceived inaction. “I would like to see a legal system that is not an embarrassment under international huma

19、n rights standards,” one said.Pervasive stereotypes and myths about transgender people continue to influence how various Japanese entities consider transgender peoples fundamental rights. For example, Japans government and Supreme Court have expressed concerns related to transgender men becoming pre

20、gnant, saying they “may cause confusion in society” as justification to uphold the laws sterilization requirement.Japans GID Special Cases Act was drafted in 2003 and came into force in 2004. For that era, it is not unique. Other legal regimes around the world from that period contain similar discri

21、minatory and abusive provisions. Legislatures, domestic courts, and regional human rights courts and bodies have in recent years found that such requirements violate human rights law. Governments around the world have removed sterilization requirements, or drafted laws without surgery requirements a

22、t all, in recent years. Somesuch as Sweden and the Netherlandshave recognized compulsory sterilizations of transgender people that took place in the past as rights violations and have compensated survivors.Medical expert bodies have similarly urged governments to remove medical requirements from leg

23、al gender recognition procedures. Most recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its new International Classification of Diseases, which removes “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorder” as “mental disorders,” much like the American Psychiatric Association did with “Gender Identi

24、ty Disorder” in 2012. This progress, and international human rights standards, gives Japan a mandate and roadmap for reforming its own law.Achieving the right to legal gender recognition is crucial for transgender people to leave behind a life of marginalization and enjoy a life of social equality a

25、nd dignity. A simple shift toward allowing people autonomy to determine how their gender is expressed and recorded is gaining momentum. The law should not force people to carry an identity marker that does not reflect who they are. It should also not force transgender people to undergo unwanted medi

26、cal procedures to be recognized or achieve any of the other associated rights. As Itsuki Dohi, a transgender woman and teacher in Kyoto said: “The five requirements of the GID Law all narrow down the life choices that transgender people have. This undermines our dignity.”The Japanese government shou

27、ld urgently re-examine its law and revise it according to its international human rights obligations and medical best practices to allow transgender people a transparent and quick administrative procedure to change their legal gender.RecommendationsTo Members of the DietIntroduce legislation to amen

28、d the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) Special Cases Act, removing the five criteria for changing legal gender, and replacing them with a self-declaration model that respects the rights of transgender individuals.To the Ministry of JusticeIntroduce legislation to amend the GID Special Cases Act, remov

29、ing the five criteria for changing legal gender, and replacing them with a self-declaration model that respects the rights of transgender individuals.Publicly support revision of the GID Special Cases Act to bring it into accord with international human rights standards and medical best practices so

30、 that individuals gender marker in the family registry can be changed without having to satisfy any medical conditions. In particular, abolish the current conditions of sex reassignment surgery and irreversible infertility, and the requirement that applicants have no underage children.Ensure that le

31、gal recognition of transgender peoples gender identity applies to all aspects of their lives.Recognize that it may be in the best interest of some transgender children and young adults to change their legal gender before the age of majority (currently age 20 and beginning April 1, 2022, age 18), and

32、 ensure that transgender children are not excluded from the possibility of applying for legal recognition of their gender identity. Procedures for the consideration of transgender childrens applications should include a mechanism for the transgender child to give their opinion on the need to change

33、their legal gender. The childs freely expressed opinion needs to be given due weight. In line with Japans obligation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the relevant procedures should be designed in such a way as to acknowledge that as children grow and acquire capacities, they are enti

34、tled to an increasing level of responsibility for the regulation of matters affecting them.Ensure that the revised legal gender recognition law does not require transgender people to be single in order to be legally recognized according to their self-declared gender identity.To the Ministry of Forei

35、gn AffairsInvite the United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity to visit Japan and meet with transgender people, service providers, and government interlocutors.To the Ministry of Health, Labor and WelfareIssue a public statement as a matter of urgency indicating tha

36、t the ministry will adopt the World Health Organizations new category of “gender incongruence” and work with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the GID Special Cases Act is revised in accordance with the WHOs International Classification of Diseases, version 11.Launch, with the Ministry of Justi

37、ce, a process of revising the GID Special Cases Act to institute a legal gender recognition procedure based on an administrative act of self-declaration of gender identity.Ensure that transgender people have access to the medical and psychological assistance and support they need regardless of wheth

38、er they pursue medical steps or a legal gender change, and that such support and assistance is available to transgender individuals within a reasonable time.Ensure, in consultation with transgender people, that health insurance programs cover all medical interventions related to gender transition fo

39、r transgender people.Ensure that training is available to health service professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners, and social workers, with regard to the specific needs and rights of transgender persons and the requirement to respect their dignity.MethodologyThis

40、report updates the research Human Rights Watch has conducted on human rights violations against transgender people in Japan since 2015. Since Japans legal gender recognition law has not changed since then, some of the cases we documented in our 2016 report on school bullying and in our 2019 report o

41、n legal gender recognition are referenced here. Additional research carried out in 2020 and 2021 documents court cases and the perspectives of experts on law, politics, and gender in Japanese society.This report draws heavily on and includes excerpts from the 2019 Human Rights Watch report “A Really

42、 High Hurdle”: Japans Abusive Transgender Legal Recognition Process. Whereas that report examined the experiences of transgender children and adults under the abusive and discriminatory legal gender recognition procedure, this report focuses on the momentum underway to change the law and foregrounds

43、 voices of activists, experts, and analysts who observe changes that have occurred and that appear to be on the horizon in Japan. In preparing this report, we interviewed additional experts and consulted further secondary sources, such as recently published peer-reviewed medical journal articles, an

44、d updated policy and court documents.During our research, Human Rights Watch researchers obtained informed consent from all interview participants and provided explanations in Japanese about the objectives of the research and that interviewees accounts would be used in a report and related materials

45、. Interviewees were informed that they could stop the interview at any time or decline to answer any questions they did not feel comfortable answering.No compensation was paid to either survey respondents or those who participated in face- to-face interviews. Human Rights Watch reimbursed public tra

46、nsportation fares for interviewees who traveled to meet researchers in safe, discreet locations. The interviews were conducted in Japanese, or with Japanese-English interpretation. All interviews were conducted privately, with participants interviewed alone.Impact of Japans Gender Recognition LawThe

47、 surgery requirement itself feels wrong. Why do we have to put a scalpel through our healthy bodies just for the sake of the countrys order?It is humiliating.Transgender man in Kanagawa Prefecture, September 2018I dont want to have surgery, to be honest. However, I have to just because it is a requi

48、rement for marrying in Japan. I feel pressured to be operated onso terrible.Transgender man in Tokyo, August 2018In 2003, when the Act on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder (“GID Special Cases Act”) was introduced in the Diet, and in 2004 when it became

49、 Japans first-ever legal gender recognition procedure, it mirrored other legal regimes around the world. HYPERLINK l _bookmark8 1It resulted in an immediate, if modest, update: according to government data, 97 people changed their gender in the family registry in the laws first year. HYPERLINK l _bo

50、okmark9 2In the ensuing 17 years, legislatures, domestic courts around the world, as well as regional human rights courts and bodies have found that requirements, such as those for psychiatric evaluation and surgery found in Japans law, violate fundamental human rights.For example, when originally w

51、ritten in 1980, section 8(1) of Germanys Transsexuals Act required that a person be “permanently infertile” and have “undergone surgery which has changed his or her external sexual characteristics and which has resulted in clearlyAct on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender

52、 Identity Disorder (“GID Special Cases Act”), Act No. 111 of July 16, 2003 (性同一性障害者性別取扱特例関法律), HYPERLINK http:/www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2542&vm=04&re=02 http:/www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2542&vm=04&re=02 (accessed April 8, 2021).Supreme Court of Japan, Fisc

53、al Year 2019 Annual Judicial Statistics Report (最高裁判所 令和元年度 司法統(tǒng)計(jì)年報(bào) 家事編), 2020, https:/ HYPERLINK http:/www.courts.go.jp/app/files/toukei/258/011258.pdf www.courts.go.jp/app/files/toukei/258/011258.pdf (accessed April 8, 2021).approaching the persons appearance to that of the other gender.” HYPERLINK

54、 l _bookmark10 3 In 2011, Germanys Constitutional Court struck down the surgery requirement, saying:The permanent nature and irreversibility of transsexual persons perceived gender cannot be assessed against the degree of the surgical adaptation of their external genitals but rather against the cons

55、istency with which they live in their perceived gender. The unconditional prerequisite of a surgical gender reassignment constituted an excessive requirement because it requires of transsexual persons to undergo surgery and to tolerate health detriments even if this is not indicated in the respectiv

56、e case. HYPERLINK l _bookmark11 4Other governments have, in recent years, not only repealed their surgery requirements for transgender people, but also acknowledged the suffering that took place under those legal requirements. In 2017, Sweden offered approximately US$26,000 to transgender people who

57、 had been sterilized under its law that previously required it. HYPERLINK l _bookmark12 5 This move made Sweden not only the first government in the world (in the 1970s) to institute a legal gender recognition law, but also the first to recognize that those sterilized under the law were entitled to

58、compensation. The government of the Netherlands began requiring sterilization for legal gender recognition in the 1980s, rescinded the requirement in 2014, and announced it would compensate affected individuals in 2020. HYPERLINK l _bookmark13 6Medical expert bodies have similarly urged governments

59、to remove medical requirements from legal gender recognition procedures. In May 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which removes “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorder” as “mental disorders” and introduces aGovernmen

60、t of Germany, Federal Law Gazette, Law on Changing First Names and Determining Gender in Special Cases (Transsexual Law), September 10, 1980, https:/ HYPERLINK http:/www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl180s1654.pdf www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesan