The UK Government has today published its draft bill on banning conversion practices in England and Wales – and after 8 long years of promises to bring in an effective ban, we’ll be waiting longer yet.
Rather than ban conversion practices completely, the Government has introduced so many loopholes that it has practically written an instruction manual on how to get away with conversion abuse.
Under the Government’s draft bill, this tortuous practice will be allowed to continue in healthcare settings, regulated and unregulated alike.
The bill also makes a distinction between conversion practices and ‘abusive’ conversion practices, when in reality no such distinction exists. There is no version of conversion abuse that is not abuse, and it is worrying that the government appears to believe that conversion practices, in some circumstances, are acceptable.
The draft bill does not explicitly enable a person to consent to conversion abuse, but it does require that victims of conversion practices demonstrate that they have experienced serious harm or distress as a result, leaving it to judges with no expertise in conversion abuse to decide if the law has been broken.
The Government has proudly announced in recent years that their ban will be “trans-inclusive” – but with so many carve outs for conversion practices to continue, this point is moot.
The draft bill risks enabling the very practice it is supposed to prevent. While it does ban some forms of conversion practices, it also paves the way for a cottage industry of conversion abusers posing as therapists and healthcare practitioners.
The Government’s draft ban is too weak to be effective, and enables state-sanctioned conversion practices to go ahead in the “right” circumstances, with the “right” approach, legitimising conversion abuse dressed up as neutral healthcare.
We will continue to monitor the situation and advocate, alongside others in the sector, for a real end to all conversion abuse in the UK.