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发帖数: 2202 | 1 在5.17国际不再恐同日，世界卫生组织的美洲地区办公室(PAHO)发布《关于"治疗"并不
存在的疾病》的立场声明，指出试图"改变同性恋倾向"的"治疗"缺乏医学根据且会导致
严重身心伤害，呼吁各政府、学术机构和媒体揭露这种"治疗"。PAHO服务范围覆盖南、
北、中美洲约50国。
http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&i
"Therapies" to change sexual orientation lack medical justification and
threaten health
Washington, D.C., 17 May 2012 (PAHO/WHO) — Services that purport to "cure"
people with non-heterosexual sexual orientation lack medical justification
and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected
people, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a position
statement launched on 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia. The
statement calls on governments, academic institutions, professional
associations and the media to expose these practices and to promote respect
for diversity.
Twenty two years ago, on May 17, the World Health Assembly removed
homosexuality from the list of mental disorders when it approved a new
version of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of
Diseases (ICD-10).
"Since homosexuality is not a disorder or a disease, it does not require a
cure. There is no medical indication for changing sexual orientation," said
PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago. Practices known as "reparative
therapy" or "conversion therapy" represent "a serious threat to the health
and well-being—even the lives—of affected people."
The PAHO statement notes that there is a professional consensus that
homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality and cannot be
regarded as a pathological condition. However, several United Nations bodies
have confirmed the existence of "therapists" and "clinics" that promote
treatment intended to change the sexual orientation of non-heterosexual
people.
The document notes that no rigorous scientific studies demonstrate any
efficacy of efforts to change sexual orientation. However, there are many
testimonies about the severe harm to mental and physical health that such "
services" can cause. Repression of sexual orientation has been associated
with feelings of guilt and shame, depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
As an aggravating factor, there have been a growing number of reports about
degrading treatments, and physical and sexual harassment under the guise of
such "therapies," which are often provided illicitly. In some cases,
adolescents have been subjected to such interventions involuntarily and even
deprived of their liberty, sometimes kept in isolation for several months.
"These practices are unjustifiable and should be denounced and subject to
sanctions and penalties under national legislation," said Dr. Roses. "These
supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical
principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by
international and regional agreements."
To address the problem, PAHO makes a series of recommendations for
governments, academic institutions, professional associations, the media,
and civil society, including:
“Conversion” or “reparative” therapies and the clinics offering them
should be denounced and subject to adequate sanctions.
Public institutions responsible for training health professionals should
include courses on human sexuality and sexual health in their curricula,
with a focus on respect for diversity and the elimination of attitudes of
pathologization, rejection, and hate toward non-heterosexual persons.
Professional associations should disseminate documents and resolutions by
national and international institutions and agencies that call for the de-
psychopathologization of sexual diversity and the prevention of
interventions aimed at changing sexual orientation.
In the media, homophobia in any of its manifestations and expressed by any
person should be exposed as a public health problem and a threat to human
dignity and human rights.
Civil society organizations can develop mechanisms of civil vigilance to
detect violations of the human rights of non-heterosexual persons and report
them to the relevant authorities. They can also help to identify and report
people and institutions involved in the administration of “reparative” or
“conversion therapies.”
PAHO, which celebrates its 110th anniversary this year, is the oldest public
health organization in the world. It works with its member countries to
improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It
also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO. |
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