LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey
Four comprehensive reports have been released recently by UNDP on the living realities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia.
The reports were compiled by local experts after comprehensive round-table consultations and document reviews which document the situation of LGBTI rights in each of the countries up until December 2016, and in a few cases including 2017.
As expected the country profiles, show that public attitudes towards LGBTI people continue to be intolerant. For instance, in Albania 92% of survey respondents declared that they would not interact with an LGBTI person. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 23.5% of respondents stated that they had experienced violence based on their gender expression or sexual identity. In Serbia, 70 percent of LGBTI people interviewed stated that they had been exposed to psychological violence and harassment.
The new country profiles call for immediately ending all violence and discriminatory practices against LGBTI people, institutionalizing legal recognition while repealing punitive laws, ensuring hate crimes are prosecuted, and multiplying the channels of advocacy to trigger profound changes in attitudes. They offer state institutions, civil society and LGBTI advocates recommendations on how to further make progress in these areas.
A brief overview of each country situation:
Albania
There have been substantial legal protections in the area of anti-discrimination. However, discrimination against LGBTI people persists in other areas. These include denial of the right to marry and have a family; the right of reassigned gender surgery for transgender people; and the right to self-determination in relation to bodily integrity for intersex people.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
LGBTI activism over the past few years has resulted in significant improvements in the institutional, legal and public policy framework for the protection of human rights of LGBTI people. Nevertheless, LGBTI people and their lives remain on the margins of the political, institutional and social mainstream.
Serbia
Serbia has adopted a wide anti-discriminatory legal framework. However, there are legal gaps that leave the rights of LGBTI people unregulated, including the rights of same-sex partners and access to documents for trans people.
Macedonia
In the past 10 years there has been a decline in the protection of the rights of LGBTI people in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. LGBTI people in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are exposed to stigmatization, discrimination and isolation due to many factors.
Click here to read the report on Albania in English;
Click here to read the report on Bosnia and Herzegovina in English;
Click here to read the report on Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnian;
Click here to read the report on Macedonia in English;
Click here to read the report on Serbia in English;
Click here to read the report on Serbia in Serbian;
Click here to read a factsheet with main findings of each country profile;
Source:
http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/library/democratic_governance/being-lgbti-in-eastern-europe–albania-country-report.html?cq_ck=1511872189984