Conversion Therapy: France

(asked on 20th January 2022) - View Source

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recently enacted legislation to ban sexual orientation and gender identity conversion therapy in France and the exclusion of a provision to allow informed consent in that legislation.


Answered by
Mike Freer Portrait
Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 25th January 2022

Our proposals to ban conversion practices often known as conversion therapy are robust and comparable to other bans in place, or currently under development, around the world.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including France, Canada, New Zealand and Malta and will continue to work with a wide range of domestic stakeholders as our policy develops.

The existing criminal law is clear that a person cannot consent to serious harm and we do not propose to change this. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that the proposals will complement existing laws, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and that they will not interfere with existing professional obligations and regulatory frameworks.

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