Recommendations for Discrimination-Free Public Service for Sexually Diverse People in the La Libertad Region

1. Context and background

Discrimination-free public service is a basic condition for citizens to be able to exercise their rights and trust their institutions. In the La Libertad region, the Regional Government and the provincial and district municipalities are everyday points of contact between the State and the public: this is where services are requested, procedures are carried out, guidance is sought, social programs are accessed, and responses are demanded in situations where rights have been violated.

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When a service user is mocked, subjected to invasive questions, prejudiced comments, unjustified delays, exposure of personal information, or denial of service, it doesn't just affect a specific transaction. It also undermines public trust and deepens barriers that have historically limited certain populations' access to essential services.

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People of sexual diversity may face specific forms of discrimination in offices, service counters, health services, educational spaces, social programs, public safety actions, community activities and administrative procedures. These barriers can take the form of humiliating treatment, intentional use of names not recognized by the person, demands for explanations about their private life, exclusionary institutional language, leaks of sensitive data, or the absence of clear channels for filing complaints.

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According to the mental health study conducted by Más Igualdad Perú in 2021 on people of sexual diversity in Peru, discrimination, violence and social exclusion have concrete effects on this population's emotional well-being. In the subsample corresponding to La Libertad, the underlying technical document notes that 51.5% of people surveyed showed high or very high levels of anxiety, 48.5% recorded high or very high levels of depression, and 69.7% reported high or very high levels of emotional dysregulation. Likewise, 66.7% indicated they receive no mental health care, revealing a significant gap in access, trust and opportunity in services.

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While these recommendations are not limited to the health field, they recognize that discrimination-free care has a direct impact on people's well-being. A public office can become either a barrier or a doorway to support. That's why the institutional challenge is to build services that provide guidance, make referrals, protect confidentiality, simplify language and respond without prejudice.

These recommendations are organized as a practical tool for the Regional Government of La Libertad and local governments. Their purpose is to facilitate concrete, viable and progressive measures that can be incorporated into citizen service, staff training, institutional planning, cross-sector coordination and citizen oversight.

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2. Purpose

To guide the Regional Government of La Libertad and the region's local governments in implementing practical measures to guarantee public services, administrative procedures, community activities and guidance mechanisms free of discrimination toward people of sexual diversity.

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3. General objective

To strengthen the institutional capacity of the Regional Government and the municipalities of La Libertad to prevent, identify and respond to situations of discrimination in public service, incorporating guidelines on dignified treatment, clear language, an affirmative approach, confidentiality and coordination with competent services.

 

4. Specific objectives

• Promote public services free of discrimination based on sexual orientation, identity, form of expression or other grounds inherent to the person or their life circumstances.

• Strengthen the capacities of front-line staff to provide respectful, clear and empathetic guidance.

• Incorporate clear, neutral and accessible language in communications, forms, calls for participation and institutional procedures.

• Establish institutional pathways for receiving complaints, referring cases and responding to situations of discrimination, violence or conversion practices.

• Promote safe spaces for information, listening and community support in coordination with social organizations and public services.

• Promote basic, confidential records that are useful for evidence-based decision-making.

• Incorporate discrimination-free service actions into planning, budgeting, training and monitoring instruments.

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5. Scope of application

These recommendations are directed at:

• The Regional Government of La Libertad and its relevant regional departments.

• Provincial and district municipalities of La Libertad.

• Municipal management offices, and departments or sub-departments of Social Development, Neighborhood Participation, Youth, Social Programs, Citizen Services, Communications, Human Resources, Inspection, and Public Safety.

• DEMUNA, OMAPED, Women's Emergency Centers or other local coordination spaces, as applicable.

• Staff working at reception desks, guidance services, service counters, municipal security (serenazgo), inspection, social programs, health, education, culture, sports, citizen participation and community services.

• Regional and local coordination spaces related to human rights, violence prevention, health, education, public safety and social development.

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6. Reference regulatory framework

These recommendations are based, among others, on the following instruments:

• Political Constitution of Peru.

• Law No. 27867, Organic Law of Regional Governments.

• Law No. 27972, Organic Law of Municipalities.

• Law No. 27444, General Administrative Procedure Law.

• Law No. 29571, Consumer Protection and Defense Code, when applicable to services provided to service users.

• Law No. 30947, Mental Health Law, as it relates to discrimination-free care and protection of emotional well-being.

• Law No. 29733, Personal Data Protection Law.

• Law No. 28983, Law on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men.

• National Gender Equality Policy, as current national regulation.

• Advisory Opinion OC-24/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

• International human rights treaties ratified by the Peruvian State.

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7. Approaches for implementation

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7.1. Human rights approach

Recognizes that all people are rights holders and that public institutions have a duty to respect, protect and guarantee those rights. In everyday service, this means treating every service user with dignity, without mockery, without unwarranted suspicion, and without denying services out of prejudice.

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7.2. Equality and non-discrimination approach

Makes it possible to identify practices, rules or conduct that create unequal treatment. It's not enough to say that everyone is served: forms, requirements, signage, messaging, record-keeping systems and treatment practices that could exclude people of sexual diversity must also be reviewed.

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7.3. Affirmative approach

Recognizes that some populations, such as people of sexual diversity, have historically faced higher levels of violence, invisibility and exclusion, and therefore require specific measures to guarantee real equality. These measures are not privileges but necessary actions to reduce accumulated inequalities. It also involves working to reduce bias among professionals and staff who serve these groups.

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7.4. Territorial and intercultural approach

Takes into account the differences between Trujillo, coastal provinces, Andean areas, urban peripheries and rural districts. Actions must be adapted to local dynamics, service availability, community forms of organization, and access barriers present in each territory.

This approach ensures that measures are not concentrated solely in urban areas or provincial capitals. It also calls for thinking about decentralized strategies, territorial campaigns, coordination with community leaders, and accessible service mechanisms for people who live far from the main public services.

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7.5. Intersectional approach

Helps to recognize that the same person can face several barriers at once: age, poverty, geographic origin, disability, family violence, migration status, language, community belonging or sexual diversity. This approach makes it possible to better prioritize resources and responses.

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Applied to these recommendations, it helps identify who may need more urgent or supported care, such as adolescents, young people, people in poverty, people living in rural areas, people exposed to family violence, or those who have experienced discriminatory treatment in public services.

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7.6. Principle of confidentiality and safe environments

All personal or sensitive information must be handled confidentially. Inquiries, complaints or services involving experiences of discrimination, violence or private life must be carried out avoiding public exposure, unnecessary comments or data leaks.

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Confidentiality is especially important in localities where people may face retaliation, mockery, family rejection or community stigma. For this reason, institutions must pay attention to who has access to information, where interviews are conducted, how cases are recorded, and what data is shared with other entities.

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8. Recommendations for implementation

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Recommendation 1: Discrimination-free public services

The Regional Government and local governments must ensure that service at counters, reception desks, social programs, community services, campaigns, decentralized offices and public activities is provided with respect and without unjustified differential treatment.

Discrimination can appear through comments, gestures, delays, unforeseen requirements, public exposure or refusal of guidance. Institutions must therefore establish clear service guidelines and mechanisms to prevent, report and correct this conduct.

Discrimination-free service requires staff to understand that every interaction with the public has concrete effects. A respectful response can facilitate access to a service, while a prejudiced response can prevent a person from seeking help again.

 

Suggested actions

• Incorporate guidelines on dignified treatment into citizen service protocols.

• Review that forms, signage, calls for participation and requirements don't include exclusionary or unnecessarily invasive language.

• Establish accessible channels for reporting discriminatory treatment.

• Ensure that service users are called by the name and form of address they indicate, when requested.

• Include non-discrimination clauses in services, activities and programs funded or promoted by the entity.

• Inform staff that denial of service, mockery, public exposure or prejudiced comments can constitute a form of institutional mistreatment.

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Recommendation 2: Clear, neutral and accessible language

The way institutions communicate rights, requirements and services can either facilitate or block access. Overly technical, exclusionary language, or language based on assumptions about people's lives, can create distance and distrust.

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For this reason, institutional communication must be clear, direct and respectful. This includes forms, notices, campaigns, signage, guidance materials, websites, social media and verbal communication.

Appropriate institutional language allows more people to understand what services exist, what requirements they must meet, what rights they have, and what to do if they experience discriminatory treatment. It also prevents citizens from feeling that services weren't designed for them.

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Suggested actions

• Use expressions such as "service users," "the public," "participants" or "beneficiaries."

• Avoid questions about private life that aren't necessary for the procedure or service.

• Simplify instructions, forms and notices using plain, citizen-friendly language.

• Train staff to explain procedures without unnecessary technical jargon.

• Review campaigns, graphic materials and notices before they are released.

• Avoid forms that require providing personal information that isn't necessary for the purpose of the service.

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Recommendation 3: Strengthening staff capacities

Front-line staff are the immediate face of the institution. A respectful response can reduce tension and guide solutions; a prejudiced response can shut off access to the service.

Training must be ongoing, practical and applicable to real service situations. It must involve both administrative staff and those working in public safety, inspection, social programs, health, education, culture, sports and neighborhood participation.

Training should not be limited to a one-off talk. It should help staff recognize bias, avoid discriminatory comments, protect confidentiality, explain procedures clearly, and refer cases when appropriate.

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Suggested actions

• Conduct annual training on human rights, the affirmative approach, discrimination-free service, confidentiality and referral pathways.

• Include brief modules in new staff onboarding.

• Use practical cases: reception desks, municipal security (serenazgo), social programs, health, education, inspection and community activities.

• Coordinate with specialized organizations and competent entities to strengthen the content.

• Assess knowledge before and after sessions.

• Prioritize training for staff who directly serve the public or intervene in situations of risk, conflict or rights violations.

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Recommendation 4: Pathways for complaints, guidance and safe referral

Service users must know what to do if they experience discriminatory treatment or need support in the face of violence, coercion or rights violations.

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Pathways must be simple, visible and safe, avoiding making a person repeatedly recount their experience or expose themselves unnecessarily. A good pathway should indicate where to go, who receives the case, what information is recorded, how confidentiality is protected, and which institution the case should be referred to.

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These pathways should not become complex or inaccessible procedures. Their usefulness depends on whether they can be understood and used quickly by the public and by service staff themselves.

 

Suggested actions

• Design an institutional pathway for discrimination complaints in regional and municipal services.

• Designate guidance focal points within Social Development or Citizen Services areas.

• Maintain an up-to-date directory of health, protection, reporting and community support services.

• Refer urgent cases to the competent entities according to the situation.

• Protect the confidentiality of data and accounts received.

• Post visible, simple information about guidance and complaint channels in citizen service offices.

• Avoid making the affected person repeatedly recount the facts at multiple offices.

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Recommendation 5: Prevention of and response to conversion practices

Conversion practices (sometimes wrongly called "therapies") are based on the mistaken idea that sexual diversity should be corrected, cured or modified. The La Libertad technical document warns that these practices can be associated with family coercion, religious settings or supposed health services, and can cause serious harm to emotional well-being.

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Within their authority, the Regional Government and municipalities can prevent, inform, guide, refer and coordinate with competent entities when there are indications of rights violations.

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These practices can present themselves as counseling, treatment, spiritual intervention, therapy, confinement, family guidance or support. It's therefore important for public staff to have basic criteria for identifying warning signs, especially when it involves adolescents or young people under family or community pressure.

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Suggested actions

• Disseminate clear information stating that sexual diversity is not an illness and does not require correction.

• Guide the public on channels for help in cases of coercion, confinement, mistreatment, fraud or violence linked to these practices.

• Coordinate with the Public Prosecutor's Office, National Police, health sector, CEM or other entities when there are indications of rights violations.

• Include alerts about these practices in staff training and violence prevention campaigns.

• Provide safe psychosocial referral for affected people.

• Incorporate preventive messages into campaigns aimed at families, educational institutions and community spaces.

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Recommendation 6: Safe spaces for listening and community support

Local governments must promote prevention actions against practices that affect

Discrimination-free care also requires building spaces of trust outside the service counter. Spaces for listening, guidance and community support can reduce isolation, provide information about rights, and connect people with public services.

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These spaces don't replace specialized care, but they function as a first point of support. They can be developed in coordination with social organizations, community centers, health services, educational institutions, DEMUNA, municipal programs or neighborhood participation spaces.

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In regions with territorial diversity such as La Libertad, these spaces can be adapted to different contexts: urban areas, peripheries, rural districts or provinces with less presence of specialized services.

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Suggested actions

• Promote listening spaces in coordination with social organizations and public services.

• Develop workshops on rights, emotional well-being, violence prevention and access to services.

• Facilitate guidance spaces for families and support networks.

• Prioritize young people, adolescents and people with greater exposure to violence or exclusion.

• Ensure privacy, consent and voluntary participation in all activities.

• Coordinate decentralized activities in provinces and districts with less access to specialized services.

• Facilitate the participation of social organizations in designing these spaces.

 

Recommendation 7: Evidence-based management and confidential record-keeping

To improve services, institutions need useful and secure information. Recording complaints, access barriers, referrals and recurring needs makes it possible to identify patterns and make decisions.

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However, these records must protect privacy and avoid any use that exposes or stigmatizes people. Information must be collected with a clear purpose, security measures and confidentiality criteria.

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Evidence-based management does not mean accumulating sensitive data without purpose. It means collecting minimal, useful and protected information to identify which problems recur, which services need improvement, and which actions should be prioritized.

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Suggested actions

• Implement basic records of complaints, alerts and referrals without exposing unnecessary data.

• Collect aggregated information on access barriers and training needs.

• Avoid collecting sensitive data if there is no clear purpose, consent and security measures.

• Prepare annual reports to improve planning and budgeting.

• Use the information to adjust pathways, campaigns, training and services.

• Ensure that public reports don't allow specific individuals to be identified.

• Coordinate with technology, records or transparency areas to properly protect information.

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Recommendation 8: Planning, budgeting and regional-local coordination

Discrimination-free service actions must be incorporated into ordinary management. If they depend solely on isolated initiatives, they will hardly be sustainable.

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Planning makes it possible to assign those responsible, resources, timelines and internal indicators, and regional-local coordination helps avoid duplication and improve territorial coverage. This recommendation seeks to have these measures integrated into existing instruments such as the POI, training plans, social development plans, citizen service strategies, territorial campaigns and participation mechanisms.

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Coordination between the Regional Government, municipalities, health services, educational institutions, social programs, community organizations and civil society can broaden the reach of these measures and facilitate more timely responses.

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Suggested actions

• Incorporate discrimination-free service actions into the POI, social development plans, training plans and citizen service strategies.

• Define a unit responsible for follow-up.

• Promote working groups with public entities and social organizations.

• Allocate resources within existing activities or create specific budget items when feasible.

• Present an annual report on progress, difficulties and good practices.

• Coordinate common criteria between the Regional Government and municipalities to avoid contradictory responses.

• Promote decentralized actions in provinces and districts with less access to services.

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9. Examples of good municipal practices

The following examples can be adapted by the Regional Government or municipalities according to their resources, institutional size and territorial reality. Most can be incorporated into existing areas without creating new offices.

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Inclusive guidance municipal service window

Designate a reference person or team within Social Development or Citizen Services to guide people of sexual diversity on available services, referral pathways, discrimination complaints and psychosocial support.

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Inclusive service window or focal point

Designate a reference person or team to provide guidance on procedures, complaint channels, referral pathways and available services. This can operate within Citizen Services or Social Development.

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Regional and local directory of safe services

Maintain an up-to-date list of health, protection, reporting, social support and community center services, partner organizations and emergency contacts.

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Brief guide for front-line staff

Prepare a one- or two-page sheet with treatment guidelines, recommended phrases, prohibited actions, referral pathway and confidentiality criteria.

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Training sessions with practical cases

Train using examples from reception desks, municipal security (serenazgo), inspection, health campaigns, workshop registration, family services and complaint intake.

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Good treatment clause in public activities

Include a rule of respect and non-discrimination at fairs, workshops, hearings, social programs, sports, cultural and community activities.

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Territorial campaigns on access to rights

Hold sessions in rural provinces and districts with clear information on citizen services, health, violence prevention, data protection and reporting channels.

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Confidential record of alerts and referrals

Have an internal tool to monitor referred cases or complaints received without exposing sensitive data or generating stigmatizing lists.

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Working group with civil society

Convene regular meetings with social organizations to review barriers, validate communication materials, improve pathways and gather citizen recommendations.

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10. Practical guidelines for service staff

Staff who serve the public directly should keep the following guidelines in mind:

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• Greet the person and explain the procedure using clear language. Avoid technical jargon if the person doesn't need it.

• Use the name and form of address the person indicates. If unsure, ask briefly and respectfully: "How would you like us to address you during this service?"

• Don't ask about private life if it isn't necessary to resolve the procedure or provide the service.

• Don't comment on, joke about, or share a service user's personal information with others.

• If the person describes discrimination, violence or coercion, listen without judgment and activate the corresponding pathway.

• If you don't know how to resolve the case, refer the person to the responsible party or focal point without exposing their account in public.

• Record only the necessary information and protect it in accordance with confidentiality and data protection rules.

• Remember that respectful service is also a preventive measure: it reduces fear, avoids revictimization, and strengthens public trust.

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11. Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring should serve to improve management, not just to produce reports. An annual evaluation makes it possible to identify which areas apply the guidelines best, where barriers persist, which services need additional training, and which partnerships need to be strengthened.

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Monitoring can be carried out through brief internal reports, review meetings, review of complaints or alerts, feedback from social organizations, and evaluation of activities carried out. There's no need to create a complex system, just enough information to improve service and sustain actions over time.

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Minimum elements of the annual report

Each entity may prepare an annual report that includes:

• Activities carried out.

• Areas and institutions involved.

• Staff trained.

• Complaints or alerts received and addressed.

• Cases referred to competent services.

• Communication materials reviewed.

• Listening spaces or campaigns carried out.

• Resources allocated or mobilized.

• Difficulties encountered.

• Good practices identified.

• Recommendations for the following period.