Pink Report 2021. Annual Report on the State of Human Rights of LGBTI People in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pink Report 2021. Annual Report on the State of Human Rights of LGBTI People in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: The position of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 2020 cannot be addressed without analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only on the direct access of LGBTI people to rights and freedoms, but also through the overall response of various institutions to this problem, especially in the context of the accessibility of various services that these institutions should regularly, but also in situations of natural disasters, provide unhindered to their citizens. As it has done before, this year’s Pink Report provides a relevant overview of the current situation and trends in various areas of LGBTI rights and freedoms: equality and protection policies against discrimination, protection from violence and hate speech, specific position and rights of trans and intersex people, asylum issues, freedom of assembly and same-sex partnership. The novelties in this issue are an overview of local activities of organisations dealing with the rights and position of LGBTIQ people, i.e., improvements in the quality of life and institutional action at the local level, and a summary of an extensive study on the socio-economic position of LGBTIQ people in BiH. During 2020, the LGBTIQ community across the country was thwarted in accessing the certainly small number of safe spaces and limited services of NGOs working with and for LGBTIQ people, and the pandemic and its effects deepened most of the psychosocial problems LGBTIQ people face: from mental difficulties caused by minority stress to an increased incidence of violence. Almost all of the previously mapped needs have been exacerbated, and the problems of LGBTIQ people have increased. Restrictive practices pertaining to freedom of assembly continued in 2020 and they, together with issues of same-sex partnership and the rights of transgender people, remain the priorities in the coming period. However, 2020 also brought us some positive institutional steps, which confirm the long-term steady growth of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map and index - from 31% in 2019, through over 37% in 2020, to 40% in year of this report. The progress in the process of adopting the Action Plan for LGBTI Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the working group of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for same-sex partnership, and the harmonisation of the law on public assembly in Brčko District with international standards – albeit slow within a very complex and inert political system – nevertheless gives hope for a much better quality of life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina in the near future.

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