A 10-year-old child with a distinct gender identity plays outside.
A UN human rights expert today expressed concern about the release of the final implementing rule for Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 in the United States, which will take effect on 1 August to redefine the original single gender to include many modern gender perspectives and gender identity perceptions.
U.S. federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
The purpose of Article 9 of the Education Amendment Act 1972 is to eliminate gender discrimination against women and girls in education and to ensure that they have equal educational opportunities with men and boys, particularly in higher education. Originally, Title IX's definition of "gender" was more traditional, focusing primarily on preventing discrimination on the basis of biological sex, and did not explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, or other attributes relevant to modern gender and sexual understanding.
The Biden administration's redefinition of "gender" in Title IX of the amendment includes the prevention of all forms of gender discrimination, such as harassment, sexual violence, pregnancy-based discrimination, gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual characteristics. The new rules require educational institutions to respond to complaints of gender discrimination in a timely and effective manner to ensure fairness and privacy.
Eliminating single sex is 'a serious setback'
"The erroneous redefinition of 'gender' effectively amounts to the elimination of a single gender space, a move that constitutes a serious setback and is bound to increase the vulnerability of most women and girls to privacy, including voyeurism, sexual harassment, and physical and sexual assault," the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, said in a statement. ”
Salim said the new regulations violate U.S. obligations under international human rights law to prohibit and prevent discrimination on the basis of sex. In her view, the concept of sex in sexism could only be understood as "biological sex" in the usual sense.
She said the provisions could simultaneously deviate from the United States' other international human rights obligations to protect the right to privacy and the highest standards of physical and mental health for female students.
Salim was appointed Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences by the UN Human Rights Council in July 2021 to recommend measures, ways and means to eliminate violence against women, its causes and remedy its consequences at the national, regional and international levels.
The Special Rapporteur is part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, dealing with country-specific situations or thematic issues around the world. Special procedures experts work on a voluntary basis. They are not United Nations staff members and do not receive a salary at the United Nations. They are independent from any government or organization and serve the United Nations in their individual capacity.
