By emphasizing the need for states to uphold their international obligations to protect women and girls from discrimination and violence based on sex, the report offers important insights. It underlines the importance of properly acknowledging biological sex in both policy and practice to better understand, prevent, and respond to such violence, and to meet the real needs of survivors.

Key Messages of the Report

The report by UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem highlights a growing trend to delink the definitions of “man” and “woman” from biological sex and to erode the legal category of “woman” undermining progress toward equality between men and women, effectively denying women recognition as a distinct legal and social category. She describes this trend as a form of “coercive inclusion,” where women are expected to sacrifice their rights and protections to accommodate others. The report draws attention to the increasing suppression of sex-specific language, replaced with gender-neutral or dehumanizing terms like “birthing persons,” “menstruators,” or “vagina havers” obscuring material biological realities and undermining the basis for women’s legal protections. Alsalem concludes the erasure of sex-specific language is unlawful discrimination and violence against women and girls.  She recommends to ensure the terms “women” and “girls” are only used to describe biological females and that such a meaning is recognized in law.

The report calls specifically for “upholding the rights of children, including girls, to be free from all forms of physical and mental violence and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including through the prohibition of legal and social transitioning of children who claim to experience gender dysphoria, as well as their subjugation to experimental, irreversible medical interventions related to gender reassignment, while ensuring comprehensive, evidence-based assessments for them to address underlying neurodevelopmental, psychological or other conditions before any intervention”. It also stresses the need for legal safeguards, accountability, and individualized support for those harmed or seeking to detransition.

The report also recommends strengthening protective measures, using sex-disaggregated data, challenging harmful gender stereotypes, and addressing violence against women and girls in conflict settings.

EU considerations

When addressing sensitive medical issues such as the treatment of individuals with gender dysphoria, it is important to remember that EU Member States each have their own approaches. Health care is primarily a competence of the Member States. The EU may only complement national policies, focusing on cross-border dimensions such as disease prevention, health promotion, and emergency preparedness. The ECPP calls on the EU to respect this division of competences and to refrain from interfering in national health care policies.

We also urge the EU to take the recent UN Human Rights Council report into account when preparing its various new strategies for the 2026–2030 period.

Valeriu Ghilețchi, ECPP President:

“This important report highlights how the safety of women and girls is at risk. The EU must take its findings into consideration. When it comes to medical issues, it also serves as a reminder that the EU should respect the competences of its Member States and avoid interference.”

Women and girls are essential to the well-being of our families, workplaces, communities and societies. Protecting their social and legal safety strengthens the family as the cornerstone of society. ECPP is a staunch supporter of policies that safeguard healthy family life, enabling families to flourish, foster community, and contribute to society. This report offers constructive recommendations toward building such a future.