This afternoon, Tuesday 21 February, Principle 17 presents the report ‘Trans health care in the Netherlands’ and a petition with bottlenecks and recommendations to the Standing Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport in The Hague.

The delegation of Principle 17 will, together with representatives of Transgender Network Netherlands and the Gender Diversity Association, hand over a petition. In this letter, the bottlenecks in transgender health care are described point by point, together with concrete recommendations that can solve these bottlenecks. Effective, smooth and structural. The members of the Standing Committee of Health, Welfare and Sport are also presented with the report ‘Trans health care in the Netherlands’ together with the (preliminary) signatures of the online petition ‘Transgender health care expansion rather than contraction’.

Report
Principle 17 has been worried for some time about the abuses in transgender health care, such as compulsory psychological consultations, the lack of customised health care and the structurally long waiting times at the gender teams. That is why the collective commissioned a research in 2016 by a scientist from the UvA. The report describes the harrowing outcomes of this research.

Online petition
The online petition is a logical follow-up to the report and the recent developments, such as closing Curium-LUMC for new transgender young people and Dr. Kanhai in Alkmaar stopping. Since the start – two weeks ago – over 1,350 people have already signed this petition. Signing can also be done anonymously.

The petition is still open. Sign too at bit.ly/2kqswwd!

Principle 17
Principle 17 is a collective of activists from the Netherlands that is committed to tailor-made trans* health care. Health care if you need it, when you need it, as you need it. We call ourselves after Yogyakarta Principle 17.