UNI-FORM: Cooperation with Security Forces

Between November 2015 and November 2017 Hatter is implementing an international research and awareness raising program entitled UNI-FORM: bringing together NGOs and Security Forces to tackle hate crime and on-line hate speech against LGBT persons coordinated by Associação ILGA Portugal, in cooperation with eight other LGBTQI organizations(GLEN, LGL, MGRM, Circolo di cultura omosessuale “Mario Mieli”, SA Eesti Inimõiguste Keskus, FELGTB, Galop and MOZAIKA) .

UNI-FORM’s main objectives are:

1. to comply with the suggested practices of Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA, of January 2014, in particular the exchange of information and good practices between various stakeholders and the importance of having a uniform reliable, comparable and systematic data collection mechanism on hate speech and hate crime in order to allow for cross-country comparisons and thus an effective implementation of the Framework Decision;
2. to conduct in-depth interview processes with representatives from security forces, the judiciary, victim support services and victims themselves in each participating country in order access the needs and difficulties in reporting LGBT-related hate crime and on-line hate speech;
3. to create networking environment between all partners (LGBT NGOs and Equality Bodies, Ombudsman Offices, Police Colleges, Prosecutors Offices and EU Agencies);
4. to create an uniform reporting mechanism available in the participating countries’ national languages and available on-line and via a mobile app;
5. to empower LGBT victims of hate crime and on-line hate speech by involving all the before-mentioned stakeholders in a national campaign which encourages victims to report incidents.

During the implementation of the project the partner organisations will also develop local campaigns to encourage LGBT victims of hate crimes to report incidents to relevant authorities.

The project is funded by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Commission.