Fears Switzerland could become hotspot for "gay conversion tourism" amid parliamentary debate
euronews.comSwiss organisation fighting for LGBT equality.“We tell them it's not enough and we can see that because conversion therapy is still happening in Switzerland, and we have a lot of victims.”One difficulty is that the term ‘conversion therapy’ is not widely used by those practicing it.
In Switzerland there are no religious groups using the term despite many groups - particularly evangelical Christians - providing it.“They say it’s only a self-finding trip, a therapy, or they want people to accept themselves but of course that’s a lie because they don't really want them to accept themselves.
They just want to make them straight and cis,” says Heggli.“What we hear from the victims is they usually come out of these therapies…with mental problems.“We know that a lot of the victims have these problems for a long, long time and some of them have committed suicide because they can’t live with it anymore.
It is a huge problem.”The fears of LGBT+ rights groups are that due to bans in other European countries Switzerland will become a destination for those wishing to practice conversion therapy.Conversion therapy is prohibited in countries like Greece and Malta while Spain and Belgium are considering bans.
