New Zealand is the latest country to make moves banning conversion therapy. Proposed legislation has passed its first reading in parliament, with all parties saying they oppose such practices.
However, the National Party voted against the bill on the basis that it risks criminalising parents. Under the proposals, an individual who performs conversion therapy on someone, causing serious harm, will face a prison sentence of up to five years.
To amount to conversion therapy, the practice complained of must be ‘directed towards someone because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and performed with the intention of changing or suppressing their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression’.
