Hate speech and hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ people have intensified across Europe. As ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia shows, the year 2022 was the most violent one for LGBTI people across the Eurasian region in the past decade, both through planned, ferocious attacks and through suicides in the wake of rising and widespread hate speech from politicians, religious leaders, right-wing organizations and media pundits. Only a few days ago, two separate homophobic hate crimes shocked the LGBTIQ+ community in Serbia, showing, once again, how unhinged hate speech combined with a poor response by the state can be extremely dangerous for the safety of our community. 

Hate crimes and incidents against LGBTIQ+ people are prevalent across the Western Balkans. According to the latest EU LGBTI Survey, in Serbia and North Macedonia, respectively, 41% of LGBTIQ+ people had been harassed one year before the survey, 1 in 5 trans and intersex people were physically or sexually attacked in the five years before the survey, and 19% of respondents in Serbia and 17% of respondents in North Macedonia had been physically assaulted in the 5 years before the survey. Despite these alarming statistics, LGBTIQ+ people continue to refrain from reporting these incidents to the relevant authorities. The same poll shows that in Serbia, only 14% of hate crime victims reported the case to the police, and only 9% did so with an equality body, while in North Macedonia, this was 18% and 7%, respectively. Our regional LGBTIQ+ poll conducted in 2018 by the World Bank, ERA, and IPSOS shows that the main reasons for such low reporting levels were the belief that the police would not (45%) or could not (37%) do anything. Another prominent reason was fear of retaliation from the perpetrators (38%) and a fear of homophobic and/or transphobic reactions from the police (31%). 

If we want to improve access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in the Western Balkans, we must hold justice sector institutions accountable for their work on this issue while encouraging LGBTIQ+ people to report hate crimes and hate incidents to local organisations and to the relevant authorities. For the latter, we encourage LGBTIQ+ people to contact local LGBTIQ+ organizations in the respective countries and/or at least report the incidents to local organizations online or in person. For this reason ERA, in partnership with Stonewall and 13 local LGBTIQ+ organizations from the Western Balkans and Turkey, has set up the You Are Heard reporting platform to increase reporting of hate incidents. The LGBTIQ+ community and allies can report hate incidents and find support in this place. They can do so anonymously and in any of the following languages: Albanian, BSCM, Macedonian, Slovenian, Turkish, and English. 

With all the above in mind, ERA, with the support of the World Bank’s SOGI Task Force, has designed a rights awareness campaign for LGBTIQ+ people in the Western Balkans region, focusing particularly on Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The main goals of this campaign are to: 

• Help LGBTIQ+ people increase knowledge and awareness about their rights; 
• Encourage LGBTIQ+ people to use existing reporting mechanisms to report cases of discrimination and violence;
• Build confidence for the community in the justice sector by highlighting positive examples and efforts; 
• Provide LGBTIQ+ people with easily accessible resources relative to access to justice in Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. 

More specifically, we have created in the local languages of the respective countries infographics and animation videos as well as conducted interviews with representatives of the LGBTIQ+ community and state institutions, with whom we discussed existing barriers that make it difficult for LGBTIQ+ people to access justice, while also highlight some existing mechanisms, institutions, and procedures that LGBTIQ+ people can access in the respective countries. 

The materials produced aim to better acquaint LGBTIQ+ people with the existing laws, policies, and institutions that aim to protect them from discrimination, harassment, or violence. They give a detailed overview of what legal rights LGBTIQ+ people enjoy in their country and what kind of services and support they can seek from state institutions, including the police, the Prosecution, the People’s Advocate, Equality Bodies, the Courts (both national and international) as well as the local LGBTIQ+ organizations that provide specialized services and information on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ persons. 

We at ERA know that it will take a very long time before our community builds more trust and confidence in state institutions. Year after year, in our reports and those of our members, we highlight the shortcomings of such institutions in serving and protecting the LGBTIQ+ community, and not only. However, for access to justice to increase and improve for LGBTIQ+ people, we need an informed and empowered community on the one hand, as well as accountable, professional, and reliable institutions on the other. 

If you are a member of the LGBTIQ+ community in any country of the Western Balkans and Turkey region, and you need any form of psychological or legal support, we strongly encourage you to visit the You Are Heard platform and not hesitate to ask the help and support of our local member organisations in the respective countries. 

Click here to watch the interview with members of civil society on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people.

Click here to watch the interview with public authorities on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people.

Click here to watch the infomercial video on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in Montenegro.

Click here to watch the infomercial video on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in North Macedonia in the Albanian language, click here.

Click here to watch the infomercial video on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in North Macedonia, in the Macedonian language.

Click here to watch the infomercial video on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in Serbia.

Click here to download the infographic on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in Montenegro.

Click here to download the infographic on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in North Macedonia in the Albanian language.

Click here to download the infographic on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in North Macedonia in the Macedonian language.

Click here to download the infographic on access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people in Serbia.