Our new project focuses on supporting the victims of anti-LGBTQI hate crimes

The project, which runs from March 2024 to February 2026, will be implemented with partners from Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia and Greece. The Legal Program of Háttér Society has been working since 2022 with the NGOs and academic institutions with which we are now embarking on a new two-year project. 

As a result of this well-established cooperation, we published a transnational comparative report, using an intersectional approach to analyze the response to hate crimes from the legal context to available services. The CounterHate project, which will soon come to an end, has shown that there are systemic weaknesses in the victim support system in all the examined countries. These include:

• the lack of cooperation between civil society organizations and public bodies;
• the existence of practices that generate revictimization;
• difficulties in applying an intersectional perspective in assistance services.

Running from March 2024 to February 2026, the new project ENACT: Enhancing the capacity of civil society organizations to support victims of anti-LGBTQI hate crimes will build on these research findings to continue the work of the international civil society and academic consortium. As the name suggests, this time the focus is specifically on anti-LGBTQI hate crime and responses to it.

Why is this approach necessary? Unfortunately sexual orientation and gender identity are among the most common motivations of hate crimes. According to the 2019 LGBTI Survey of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), 42% of respondents reported having felt discriminated against or harassed on these grounds in the year preceding the survey. Furthermore, 11% of them had been attacked or threatened with violence in the previous five years (17% in case of transgender persons). This percentage related to violence is similar among the participant countries in this project: Lithuania (12%), Hungary (11%), Slovenia (10%), Greece (9%), Spain and Italy (8%).

The current project will focus in particular on the analysis of the lived experiences of victims, the available assistance services, and the inclusion of key professionals. 

Detailed information about the project objectives and project partners can be found in the project description. News about the campaigns, training and research related to the project will be published on our website.

As a first step in the project, we will conduct qualitative interviews and hold a focus group discussion, based on which we will produce a research report and briefing materials. This will be followed by national and international workshops to promote cooperation between public authorities and civil society organizations. The training module developed for professionals will be available from autumn 2025. Additionally, the consortium will prepare policy recommendations, an international conference, scientific articles, information days, and awareness raising campaigns.

The project is supported by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program of the European Commission.