Question reference: S6W-26813
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 19 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 May 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of the use of conversion therapy have been recorded since 2010, and under which bodies.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this data. At present, Scots law does not provide for a specific criminal offence relating to conversion practices, nor is there another basis for any bodies to collect such data.
Both the independent Expert Advisory Group on Ending Conversion Practices and the Equalities, Human Rights & Civil Justice (EHRCJ) Committee heard from people in Scotland with recent lived experience of conversion practices. Each produced reports which provided insight into the prevalence and types of conversion practices used in Scotland.
In their report of 25 January 2022, the EHRCJ Committee concluded that sufficient research and evidence is available in relation to conversion practices in Scotland and recommended that the Scottish Government does not duplicate evidence gathering already undertaken.
The UK Government’s National LGBT Survey, conducted in 2017 identified that, in Scotland, 7% of ‘LGBT’ respondents had either undergone or been offered ‘conversion therapy’.