Protection Cluster Ukraine, ILGA-Europe and UNHCR, ‘Protection of LGBTIQ+ people in the context of the response in Ukraine’, 2022
- Category: Literature
- Source: NGOs, Other
- Subject: Sexual Orientation/Sexuality, Gender Identity, Refugee/Asylum, LGBT+
- Place: Europe
- Year: 2022
- File: protection_of_lgbti_advocacy_note_eng_2022
- URL: https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/protection-lgbtiq-people-context-response-ukraine
Protection Cluster Ukraine, ILGA-Europe and UNHCR, ‘Protection of LGBTIQ+ people in the context of the response in Ukraine’, 17 May 2022
Background
Since 24 February 20221, over 14 million people have been forcibly displaced internally and across international borders as a result of the armed conflict in Ukraine, while thousands of civilians still remain in areas directly exposed to the armed hostilities. Despite the fact that sexual diversity is not outlawed in Ukraine, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other diverse identities (LGBTQI+) have long remained under stigma and subject to a widely spread negative perception by the vast part of the Ukrainian society. Even before the war, there had been instances of hate speech, discrimination, harassment and abuse of LGBTIQ+ people in Ukraine, on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC). For this reason, the LGBTQ community refrained from public appearances and related advocacy campaigns – resulting in the community being prone to isolation and marginalization. 1 In situations of forced displacement and armed conflict, individuals who are LGBTIQ+ have the same rights and basic needs as other displaced and affected persons. Nonetheless, they are often at heightened risk of exclusion, exploitation, violence and abuse, and encounter distinct protection risks because of their real or perceived SOGIESC. These challenges often add numerous barriers to accessing humanitarian assistance and services such as safe accommodation, appropriate health care, gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response services, education and livelihoods opportunities. Due to the perception that LGBTIQ+ do not conform to prevailing sociocultural norms, they may be excluded from traditional support networks among displaced and host communities. Barriers are especially acute for transgender persons whose gender identity does not match their official identity documents.2 It is therefore important that humanitarian actors and service providers understand and address such risks through tailored programmes to ensure LGBTIQ+ persons in displacement and/or affected by the war in Ukraine enjoy equal rights.