Synopsis Gender identity is one of the most fundamental aspects of life. The sex of a person is usually assigned at birth and becomes a social and legal fact from there on. Discrimination based on gender identity is not explicitly covered in legal frameworks in a large majority of Council of Europe member states.

The concept of human rights is old as human history itself. In principle, international human rights instruments protect everybody without discrimination. Despite the fact that gender identity as a discrimination ground, along with sexual orientation, is often not explicitly mentioned in international human rights treaties, these treaties do apply to all persons through their open-ended discrimination clauses.