13/10/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
The association submitted a report on the health needs of trans people in Türkiye to the UN human rights mechanisms.
Kaos GL Association submitted a report to the United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms titled “Unmet Health Needs of Trans People in Türkiye: Exclusion from Sexual and Reproductive Health Services.”
In the report, the association stated that Türkiye’s healthcare system is based on the assumption that everyone is cisgender and heterosexual. Highlighting the absence of a structural framework that facilitates trans people’s access to healthcare in Türkiye, the report included the following statements:
“Türkiye’s limited and inadequate efforts to prevent discrimination fail to cover transgender individuals in any way, pushing them outside the mechanisms for preventing discrimination and thereby reinforcing discrimination. Within this framework, there are no regulations ensuring that the specific health needs of transgender individuals are met in a manner consistent with human dignity, nor are there any preventive regulations to prevent potential cases of discrimination.”
The report noted that in Türkiye, expert boards authorized to make decisions regarding gender-affirming procedures exist in only 13 hospitals, but this does not mean that surgeries are actually performed at these hospitals.
Emphasizing that access to gynecological examinations is also limited, the report stated:
“Victims' accounts highlight discriminatory practices in their experiences with gynecological examinations. One trans woman summarizes the situation by saying, “My biggest fear is not receiving care, being rejected at that moment. That's why I don't go to public hospitals or university hospitals. I go to private clinics and pay for it.”
Trans people are concerned about being labeled
The report noted that access to hormones has declined to an alarming level, highlighting the supply and age restrictions imposed on hormone treatments. It also reported that the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) has requested the number of trans students undergoing the gender-affirmation process.
The report further stated that during this period, when practices that make it difficult or impossible for trans people to access healthcare have intensified, another development occurred. In health reports issued to trans people, the general code “other,” used to protect patient privacy, was previously applied. However, at the request of the Ministry of Health, it was decided that these reports would now be issued with the code “gender reassignment.” The report emphasized that this practice creates concerns about being labeled for trans people undergoing the gender-affirmation process.
Stigma around HIV is widespread, and discrimination in healthcare is structural
The report stated that stigma around HIV is widespread. It also noted that the decisions of the Turkish Human Rights and Equality Institution exclude people living with HIV.
Furthermore, the report emphasized that discrimination against trans people in healthcare is structural and that there are no mechanisms in place to prevent such discrimination:
“The lack of LGBTI+ persons inclusivity in medical university education poses a significant barrier to future physicians establishing a scientific connection with LGBTI+ persons existence. University administrations have increasingly pressured medical school graduates in recent years to remove references to LGBTI+ persons such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender characteristics from their graduation oaths.”
The social isolation of trans people is becoming institutionalized
One of the sections in the report was titled “Consequences of Violations.”
The report noted that lacking access to gynecological services, or only having access that does not meet appropriate standards, leads to serious physical and mental health issues for trans people. It highlighted that, especially in recent years, barriers to hormone access and constantly changing regulations have forced many trans people to stop their hormone treatments. The report emphasized that the healthcare system, financed in part by contributions collected from LGBTI+ individuals, is not equipped to meet this group’s health needs. As a result, many people are forced to purchase private healthcare, and widespread discrimination in employment exacerbates this situation, leading to further impoverishment of LGBTI+ individuals.
The report also stated that reproductive technologies that consider marriage as a criterion for access entirely exclude trans people from the system, effectively denying their right to form a family. Similar restrictions apply to adoption processes, institutionalizing the social isolation of trans people.
Furthermore, trans people living with HIV face layered discrimination, with both HIV-related stigma and trans-excluding public policies intensifying their marginalization. The report stressed that a discriminatory culture, embedded in the healthcare system and reproduced from medical education onward, has turned access to healthcare into a space where trans people constantly encounter systemic discrimination.
Recommendations
The recommendations included in the report are as follows:
- Discrimination based on gender identity and sex characteristics must be explicitly prohibited. The State Party must ensure that gender identity and sex characteristics are explicitly included within the scope of the prohibition of discrimination in relevant legislation, including the Patient Rights Regulation and the Law on the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye.
- A national action plan should be developed regarding the right to health for transgender and gender-diverse individuals. The Ministry of Health should develop a comprehensive plan that ensures equal access to hormone therapy, psychosocial support, HIV prevention, and gender affirmation processes.
- Administrative and medical restrictions on hormone therapy should be lifted. Practices that restrict access to testosterone, estrogen, and similar hormones should be discontinued; access to hormone therapy should be regulated solely on the basis of medical necessity.
- Medical confidentiality and personal data protection principles must be strengthened. Reporting that includes categories such as “gender reassignment” in healthcare institutions should be discontinued; the health records of transgender individuals should be organized according to the principle of confidentiality.
- Gender affirmation services should be made accessible in public hospitals. Gender affirmation surgeries should be accessible nationwide; a network of referral hospitals should be established for these services, and they should be covered by the Social Security Institution.
- The privacy of transgender individuals living with HIV must be protected and discrimination prevented. Healthcare workers should be trained on HIV status confidentiality and ethical obligations; sharing personal health information without the patient's consent should be considered a disciplinary offense.
- Comprehensive, human rights-based training programs for healthcare workers should be developed. Topics such as gender identity, gender characteristics, and sexual orientation should be included in medical school curricula and continuing professional education programs.
- Restrictions based on marital status and gender should be removed regarding access to assisted reproductive treatments. The requirement to be married in the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Regulation should be removed; unmarried individuals and transgender persons should be able to benefit equally from these services.
- The Council of Higher Education and public institutions must comply with human rights standards in their data collection processes. Requests for information sent to universities containing personal data related to the healthcare processes of transgender individuals should be canceled; data collection should be based solely on the principles of explicit consent and data minimization.
- An independent advisory mechanism should be established to monitor access to healthcare for transgender and intersex individuals. This mechanism should be established with the participation of LGBTI+ persons organizations and experts; its findings should be published publicly and shared with UN agencies.
Tags: human rights, life, health, trans, lgbti
