UN Working Group calls for urgent efforts to address violations and abuses of rights of LGBTI+ persons in business contexts

NEW YORK – States and businesses must scale up efforts to address the disproportionate adverse human rights impacts that LGBTI+ persons face in the context of business activities, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights said today.

LGBTI+ persons suffer discrimination and attacks in various forms, including harassment in the workplace, stigmatisation on social media, biased representation in advertising, and exclusion in sports, the experts said in their report to the 79^th Session of the UN General Assembly.

“The risks faced by individuals within the LGBTI+ community are diverse, and the structural and intersectional discrimination they endure is often misunderstood or inadequately addressed by both States and businesses,” said Fernanda Hopenhaym, Chair of the Working Group, who presented the report to the General Assembly.

The report emphasised that hostile cultural and social environments and the criminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual acts severely restrict the ability of businesses to respect the rights of LGBTI+ persons. At the same time, businesses have an independent responsibility to uphold human rights and cannot justify evading this responsibility by citing religion or culture in the countries they operate.

“Through a rigorous gender-responsive human rights due diligence (HRDD) process with meaningful engagement with LGBTI+ persons, businesses should systematically ensure that the rights of LGBTI+ persons are respected – not only for their employees, but throughout their entire supply chain and in every community where they operate,” Hopenhaym said.

The report stressed that States must revise their policies and legal frameworks to remove discriminatory and non-inclusive provisions, improve data collection, and explicitly include protections for LGBTI+ persons in their business and human rights frameworks, including in their dedicated national action plans and HRDD legislation.

“During our consultations, numerous allegations of bias and discrimination by State officials, including within the judiciary, were raised. At the same time, too few grievance mechanisms exist for victims to safely lodge complaints,” Hopenhaym said.

“States must strengthen the capacity of public officials and ensure effective access to justice and remedies. This includes formalising and strengthening channels for addressing violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ persons in the context of business activities for an equal and safe access to state-based grievance mechanisms,” the expert said.

“The fight for the respect of the rights of LGBTI+ persons has been a long-standing one. It is not just an ethical imperative, but a fight for justice and equality that benefits society as a whole,” Hopenhaym said on behalf of the Working Group.

Collaboration between businesses, the LGBTI+ community, workers' organisations, civil society organisations, and States holds promise and offers hope for advancing the rights of LGBTI+ persons, she said.

The report offers detailed recommendations to States, businesses, and civil society on how to integrate the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into business activities to ensure the protection and respect of the rights of LGBTI+ persons, and builds on the Working Group’s Gender Guidance.