The Netherlands has fallen on the Rainbow Europe Index, a European ranking for LGBTIQ rights. “Really worrying”, Amsterdam activist Sharan Bala calls it. She is intersex and notices a lot of what she thinks is a thin policy for intersex people. Interest group COC is also concerned about the decrease: “We started so well years ago, but now we are lagging behind.”
“It is sad and sad for the rainbow community that we are lagging behind the rest of Europe,” said COC spokesman Philip Tijsma.
The Netherlands has now dropped from 13th place to 14th place in the ranking, which is compiled every year by human rights organization ILGA. The ranking is determined on the basis of rights that LGBTIQ people have in a country and the policy that applies to this group. There are a total of 49 countries on the list. Malta is at the top, followed by Belgium. Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia score the lowest according to ILGA.
“We have fallen on three points, one of which is the violence policy that we have in the Netherlands. For example, we have no law that punishes discriminatory violence more severely than other violence and we have no or hardly any discrimination detectives,” says Tijsma.
Intersex
The component on which the Netherlands scores lowest is the policy for intersex people. Activist and artist Sharan Bala is herself intersex, which means that you are born in a body that is not biologically completely male or female.
Sharan previously told her story to NH News, watch the report below.
Pride portrait Sharan Bala – NH News
As a young child, Bala underwent many surgeries without her knowing it. “Where, for example, Spain and Greece have introduced a law this year that prohibits non-medically necessary operations on small children, the Netherlands does not want to adopt that law yet. I really can’t get over it.”
“The laws are already in place, so as far as I’m concerned we can start”
The first legal same-sex marriage took place in the Netherlands in 2001, making our country once a leader in LGBTIQ rights. “It’s a shame that we’re falling more and more now,” says Bala. Tijsma agrees: “It is good that other countries are increasing in what is allowed and possible for LGBTIQ people. But the Netherlands should not be left behind.”
control
For Sharan it is important that the ban that already exists in Spain and Greece also comes into her own country. “If those operations had been banned when I was little, I would have had a lot more control over my own body. And the NNID and the UN have been making this a law for so long that I don’t understand how the government is still doing this. not enter.”
Thijsma also sees the solutions ahead: “The laws are already in place, so as far as I’m concerned we can start. And it is also possible to take steps locally: Amsterdam can appoint a discrimination detective itself and, for example, Pink in Blue can set up a give a helping hand.”