Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in relation to the sixth periodic review of Azerbaijan in the 77th CEDAW Session.
This report is submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in anticipation of the Committee’s upcoming review of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The report is submitted by Nafas LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance, Free LGBT Azerbaijan Collective.
Overall, there is no mention of lesbian, bisexual and trans (hereinafter – LBT) women and girls, and intersex persons in the report provided by the State. As it is evident, the State did neither include intersecting forms of violence, discrimination, and harassment faced by LBT women and girls, and intersex persons into its legal and policy reforms or designed programs.
Despite the widespread discrimination and abuse faced by LBT women and girls and intersex persons in Azerbaijan, this Committee has never addressed this population in its recommendations to the state. Our report is aimed to fill in this gap and to highlight the problems faced by LBT women and girls and intersex persons in Azerbaijan.
Taking into account both the State’s obligation to guarantee the enjoyment of rights without any discrimination, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), and the list of issues set by the Committee, the report directs the Committee’s attention to serious and ongoing violations of the CEDAW rights of LBT women and girls and intersex persons in Azerbaijan. Given that the State must take a systematic approach and publicly address LBT women and Intersex issues in a positive manner to ensure that they can live on an equal footing with the rest of the population in Azerbaijan, this report introduces specific recommendations, including recommendations made by other UN mechanisms and questions for the interactive dialogue.