Jail time and unlimited fines planned under conversion practices ban

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Jail time and unlimited fines planned under conversion practices banImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Plans to ban conversion practices were first promised in 2018 but led to protests after several U-turnsByJosh ParryLGBT & Identity ReporterPublished41 minutes agoThose who carry out conversion practices - commonly known as "conversion therapy" - could be jailed for up to five years under landmark new plans. The draft Conversion Practices Bill, which criminalises "abusive acts" aiming to change someone's sexual orientation or transgender identity, is expected to be laid before Parliament later today. The Cabinet Office said the Bill will ensure LGBT+ people are "protected from physical and psychological abuse to change who they are".

Some groups have raised concerns such laws could criminalise exploratory conversations around gender identity or sexual orientation. The government says it is proposing to legislate because existing domestic abuse or coercive control laws do not address "the unique nature of abusive conversion practices". The plans will, for the first time, set a legal definition of conversion practices as conduct which "aims to change someone's sexual orientation or transgender identity through abusive acts that seriously harm the victim".

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Minister for Equalities Olivia Bailey said: "Conversion practices are driven by the false belief that being LGBT+ is shameful and can be forcibly changed. "Legal loopholes have left LGBT+ people vulnerable to these harmful acts, which is why we must legislate. "Two new criminal offences will be created under the plans: one for carrying out conversion practices "which cause serious harm, alarm or distress", and another for encouraging or assisting such practices to take place outside of England and Wales.

Proposals also include new civil powers known as Conversion Practice Protection Orders, which they say will "pre-emptively protect those deemed to be at risk of abuse". Those found guilty of conducting abusive conversion practices could face both an unlimited fine and prison sentences of up to five years. How prevalent are conversion practices?

It's difficult to know exactly how widespread conversion practices are. About 5% of the 108,000 people who responded to the government's UK-wide LGBT Survey in 2018 said they had been offered some form of conversion therapy, while 2% had undergone it. But the survey did not define what it meant by conversion therapy, and did not ask when or where it had happened.

Galop, an anti-LGBT abuse charity which has campaigned in favour of a ban, has today released new figures and says between 2022 and 2025 it identified more than 300 calls about conversion practices. Researchers analysed a sample of 195 of those calls and found reported examples of physical and sexual violence, attempts at forced marriages and people being forcibly taken abroad to undergo conversion practices.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.