The project “Come Forward: Empowering and Supporting Victims of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes”, in line with the Directive 2012/29/EU, aims at addressing a common need within the European Union to increase reporting of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes through building capacity of civil society and official partners and empowering victim communities.
The project has been designed to directly deliver against the above-evidenced needs and seeks to:
- Increase the number of dedicated front line reporting centres by building capacity of civil society and official partners on local and national levels;
- Improve the access to specialized support by building capacity of victim support service providers;
- Share good practices, strengthen cross-border and multi-agency partnerships;
- Raise awareness and empower victims.
The expected results of the project include:
- Identified training needs of reporting centres and victim support service providers working with victims of anti-LGBT hate crime based on results of 460 surveys and 200 interviews;
- Identified and disseminated 40 good practices on countering underreporting and supporting victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes;
- Analysed the preparedness of victim support service providers in 10 countries to address individual needs of LGBT victims of hate crime, in the light of the implementation of the Directive 2012/29/EU, based on results of 230 surveys and 100 interviews;
- Creation of a pool of 30 international trainers able to deliver anti-LGBT hate crime trainings;
- Improved competences of 575 representatives reporting centres and 525 representatives of victim support service providers;
- Strengthened cross-border and multi-agency cooperation between civil society organizations and public institutions in 10 EU Member States involved in the project as partners (13 partners), associate partners and target groups;
- Empowerment of local LGBT communities and victims of anti-LGBT crime;
- Raised awareness on anti-LGBT hate crime among victim communities, as well as professionals and key decision makers.
The project is based on reliable research, and actions have been developed following an assessment of common needs on the European level, taking into consideration specific national circumstances. Specifically, the objectives will be met through the following set of actions:
- Quantitative and qualitative research will allow for gathering good practices;
- National and European reports will emphasize concrete actions and examples from real life, contributing to an effective implementation of the provisions of the Directive on the ground in 10 jurisdictions across Europe;
- Building capacity of civil society and official partners on local and national levels will allow for: a) tackling underreporting, supporting efficient and sustainable reporting mechanisms available to victims of anti-LGBT hate crime, as well as establishment of reporting networks; b) ensuring respectful treatment and access to victim support services addressing individual needs of victims of anti-LGBT hate crime; c) strengthening cross-border and multiagency cooperation of organizations;
- Outreach activities will serve to empower members of the victim community;
- Dissemination activities will ensure a legacy for the project and increased understanding and raised awareness of anti-LGBT hate crimes.
The project is implemented by international partners Università degli Studi di Brescia (Italy), Cavaria (Belgium), Bilitis Resource Center (Bulgaria), GLAS (Bulgaria), Zagreb Pride (Croatia), PRAKSIS (Greece), Colour Youth – Koinotita LGBTQ Neon Athinas (Greece), Háttér Társaság a Melegekért (Hungary), National LGBT* rights organization LGL (Lithuania), Lambda Warszawa (Poland), Gabinet d’estudis Socials SCCL (Spain), Universitat de Girona (Spain) and Galop (United Kingdom).
More about the project:
Hate crime training for police officers took place in Kaunas in November 8, 2018
