Belgium intends to further improve its image as a "
LGBTQI+ friendly " country by working on a legal text to ban "
conversion therapy
" by the end of the year
, already prohibited in France and Germany, a we learned Thursday, May 12 from an official source.
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Read alsoGreat Britain: facing the outcry, conversion therapies will be banned
Secretary of State for Gender Equality Sarah Schlitz is due to present a comprehensive plan to the Council of Ministers on Friday to "
fully guarantee the protection of LGBTQI+ rights in Belgium
".
One of the measures of the plan is to work on the prohibition of conversion practices which must be “
a priority
”, according to a press release.
A text in preparation should be submitted to the government in June for adoption by Parliament by the end of 2022, a spokesperson for Sarah Schlitz told AFP.
Controversial “
conversion therapy
” aims to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer or intersex people.
They were banned in Germany in 2020, and should soon be banned in the UK after the outcry caused by the announcement that the government was going to abandon this commitment.
In France, in accordance with a resolution voted in March 2021 by the European Parliament, a text of law was adopted in January 2022 creating a new offense to punish such practices.
Read alsoParliament votes to create a new offense against “conversion therapy”
"Corrective Rape"
According to Sarah Schlitz's office, Belgium is one of some 70 countries in the world where these therapies imposing heterosexuality are still practiced, although they are "
ineffective and dangerous
".
“
These practices range from psychotherapy and electric shock therapy to beatings and even
'
corrective rape
'
.
They can take place in the religious, medical, sectarian fields, whether through relatives or pseudo-professionals and have terrible consequences on the people on whom they are practiced
”, denounce the services of the Secretary of State environmentalist.
In Europe, only a small minority of countries have so far banned “
conversion therapy
”.
This year France has become the 3rd country on the continent to ban them for minors, after Malta in 2016, and Germany in 2020, noted the ILGA organization in a report published Thursday.
In its annual “
Rainbow Europe Map
”, this federation of NGOs also underlined that Belgium was the 3rd European country ensuring the best defense of LGBTI rights, behind Malta and Denmark.