The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the first report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal - Borloz, submitted pursuant to Council resolution 32/2.

In the report, the Independent Expert provides an overview of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Such acts are committed in all corners of the world, and victims are presumed to be in the millions, every year. These acts extend from daily exclusion and discrimination to the most heinous acts, including torture and arbitrary killings. At their root lie the intent to punish the non - conformity of victims with preconceived notions of what should be their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Independent Expert highlights how lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender non - conforming persons are affected differently by these acts and how intersecting factors have an impact on their vulnerability and on their risk of exclusion and marginalization. He also examines the link between hate speech and hate crimes, and the role of the media in amplifying and disseminating messages that reinforce stigma and foster violence and discrimination.

The Independent Expert also explores the root causes of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including deeply entrenched stigma and prejudice reinforced by discriminatory laws and regulations that foster a climate where hate speech, violence and discrimination are condoned and perpetrated with impunity. He examines the impact of social prejudice and criminalization on the marginalization and exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans and gender non - conforming persons, and addresses the issue of the negation of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and the resulting data gap, highlighting positive examples of data - gathering and recent measures taken by States to address violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including steps to acknowledge responsibility as an essential element in the establishment of historical truth, the process of reparation and the reconstitution of the social fabric.