Legal aspects of conversion therapy

Abstract

Legal aspects of conversion therapy

            The aim of this article is to discuss the issue of conversion therapy provided to adults from the perspective of Polish law and to analyse the postulate to ban the provision of this type of therapy from the constitutional perspective. Conversion therapy refers to various types of activities aimed at changing the sexual orientation of homosexual or bisexual people to a heterosexual orientation. In contemporary psychiatry and psychology, the prevailing view is that such practices are ineffective and even harmful. Nevertheless, in many countries in the world, this type of therapy is carried out. At the same time, with the development of standards against the background of the protection of the rights of LGBT people, it is sometimes proposed to introduce a legal ban on therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation. Such provisions have already been introduced, among others, in Malta, Germany and some US states. However, the solutions adopted in this area differ significantly, e.g. in terms of the scope of the prohibition (in some legislations, the provision of therapy to children is prohibited, in others - also to adults) or the sanctions provided for its violation. So far, Polish law has not introduced any solutions in this regard. The current legal regulations cannot constitute an effective tool to restrict the conduct of conversion therapy - only in extreme cases, involving the use of coercion, deception or invasive forms of influence, could the activities of providers of such practices be qualified as a crime. Civil liability for therapists, although not excluded in certain cases, could also be difficult if the therapy was provided with the consent of the adult concerned and was limited to psychological treatment. At the same time, due to the ineffectiveness of the Act on the Psychological Profession and the Professional Self-Government of Psychologists, there are no effective tools to punish those providing various types of harmful pseudo-therapies. In Poland, however, there are also calls for a ban on conversion therapy. The introduction of such regulations would undoubtedly constitute an interference in the sphere of constitutional freedoms and rights of persons providing therapy and those interested in it, and it would therefore be necessary to comply with the requirements arising from the principle of proportionality. In this regard, it appears that the prohibition of conversion therapy could be considered useful and necessary to achieve important objectives, such as the protection of public health and the freedoms and rights of others. It would also be possible to comply with the proportionality requirement stricto sensu if the concept of conversion therapy were sufficiently clearly defined so as not to hamper the provision of reliable psychological services to persons experiencing difficulties in relation to their sexual orientation and to enable religious organisations to preach the principles of their faith against a moral background in the area of sexuality.