Last week, the government published the long-awaited draft conversion practices (also known as conversion ‘therapy’) Bill, which criminalises “abusive acts” aiming to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity.

Publishing the draft Bill, the Home Office said that it will ensure LGBT+ people are “protected from physical and psychological abuse to change who they are”, with jail sentences of up to five years for those carrying out such practices proposed.

Afrah Qassim, Savera UK CEO and Founder said: “We welcome the publication of the draft Bill to ban conversion practices, but this is just the starting point.

“What is needed now is robust scrutiny from LGBTQ+ people, survivors and the specialist organisations that support them, who have been waiting eight long years for this moment. This scrutiny is vital because it will ensure that the Bill is fit for purpose and will not fail those it has been created to protect.

“On reading the draft Bill, we have already identified a number of concerns and potential loopholes that could allow perpetrators to continue conversion practices or place barriers before survivors seeking justice.

“The Bill in its current form requires proof of intention to cause someone to change, or believe they have changed, their sexual orientation or transgender identity, which may be more difficult to prove than the abuse itself.

“The Bill also explicitly exempts conduct carried out in the course of providing healthcare services unless it falls “far below the standards reasonably expected”, an extremely high legal threshold that could create a loophole allowing private practitioners to continue conversion practices under the guise of “exploratory therapy” or alternative clinical assessments. 

“It also does not consider the intersection with ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA), in which perpetrators

mistakenly believe someone has brought shame to their family or community by doing something that is not in keeping with the beliefs of their culture and/or family or community values.

“For an offense to be committed, the practice must be deemed “abusive” and proven to cause “serious harm” or “substantial adverse effects” on daily activities. This again is restrictive, as HBA is often not direct or explicit. It can involve coercive control, emotional and psychological abuse and forced marriage, seeking to hide or suppress an individual’s sexuality or gender identity to maintain or restore a family or community’s ‘honour’.

“Working with survivors of conversion ‘therapy’ and HBA, we know that abuse is not always extreme or obvious. Sometimes it is framed as protection, faith, culture or love, even though it is abuse and a violation of human rights. The current framework of this Bill is too narrow, leaving huge gaps for people to fall through.

“The government has taken the first, very welcome, step. We now urge it to consult with survivors, the LGBTQ+ community and frontline specialist teams, to instigate a public call for evidence and listen to those with lived experience and professional expertise to create a Bill that will be fit for purpose and will fully protect all LGBTQ+ people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds from these abhorrent practices.”