A draft report from the United Nations has raised concerns over what it describes as a “concerted international push [to] erase” women, and claims gender dysphoria may be “socially contagious”.
The preliminary report, prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), focuses on sex-based violence against women and girls. Authored by Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, the document suggests efforts are underway to “delink the definition of men and women from their biological sex” and to “erase the legal category of women”.
According to Alsalem, such actions deny women “their rightful recognition as a distinct category in law and society”.
Citing input from the gender-critical group For Women Scotland, Alsalem argues that countries recognising transgender women are “denying females their own right to be recognised in law, as a distinct, particularly vulnerable group in need of targeted protection as envisaged by international law.”
The report, which was last updated on 16 June, follows the UK Supreme Court ruling that the term “woman” in the 2010 Equality Act refers specifically to “biological women.” The decision has been used by some to justify the exclusion of transgender people from certain public spaces.
Alsalem praised the ruling, stating that it “protects women and girls under a distinct category” while still providing “anti-discrimination rights” for transgender individuals.
In the report, Alsalem references research from US sexologist Dr James Cantor, claiming that gender dysphoria is “socially contagious” and warning of the “harmful consequences of social and medical transitioning of children”. Cantor is known for supporting controversial sexologist Ray Blanchard and his theory of autogynephilia, which posits that some trans women develop gender dysphoria through misdirected sexual attraction.
Alsalem’s position also draws from the contentious theory of Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), initially described by researcher Lisa Littman. Littman herself later clarified that ROGD is not a formal medical diagnosis.
The report recommends prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from undergoing legal or social gender transition. Instead, Alsalem suggests psychological support to “address underlying neuro-developmental, psychological, or other conditions”.
She further advocates for the preservation of “the rights of females to female-only spaces in situations in which such spaces are necessary and proportionate to the legitimate aim of ensuring [their] safety, dignity and protection”.
However, no substantial evidence supports the idea that transgender women pose a danger to cisgender women. As stated by the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, violence against both cis and trans women is overwhelmingly perpetrated by cisgender men.
