Ban Conversion Therapy Consultation Submission
As part of the Government’s plans to ban conversion therapy, they sought out views on the proposals from both members of the public and LGBT+ charities and organisations.
The consultation sought views on a package of proposed measures that will apply to England and Wales. These included:
- a ban on conversion therapy – introducing a new criminal offence alongside sentence uplifts for existing offences
- a package of support for victims, restricting promotion of conversion therapies, removing profit streams, and strengthening the case for disqualification from holding a senior role in a charity
- introducing Conversion Therapy Protection Orders to protect potential victims from undergoing the practice including overseas
- exploring further measures to prevent the promotion and advertisement of conversion therapy
The consultation ran from to
As part of Galop’s policy, research and development work, we submit consultation responses in order to represent the voices of our services users, using data and research from our services.
So-called conversion therapy is prevalent in the UK today. At any given time 25-50% of service users in our young people’s service tell us that they are undergoing or are at risk of so called conversion therapy. The national LGBT survey stated that in the UK 2.4% of LGBT+ people have been subjected to so-called conversion therapy and 7% have been offered it and that this proportion is higher for trans people. However, given the numbers that we see in our services as well as the number that fail to identify it as so-called conversion therapy we believe the true number is higher.
There is significant harm associated with all so-called conversion therapy including a higher risk of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and risk of suicide attempts. We have seen this reflected in the testimonies of service users in our young people’s service and of callers to our conversion therapy helpline. They report experiencing significant mental health impacts over the short and long-term, difficulties forming and maintaining relationships, feelings of isolation and shame and losing faith.
Our frontline caseworkers and advocates see that one of the consequences of so-called conversion therapy remaining legal is that statutory services often do not recognise non-violent so-called conversion therapy at all and do not identify violent so-called conversion therapy as so-called conversion therapy.
They therefore do not take the required action to protect those who are at-risk or being subjected to it. Without an effective ban that includes the wide range of conversion practices that we see, so-called conversion therapy in the UK will continue to thrive.
Click the resource to download our full consultation submission.
