After the first info session that took place, the representatives of the Canton Sarajevo Ministry of Labor, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees expressed the wish and need to organize another info session for their colleagues. So, on the 10 November 2017 the second half-day info session for the representatives of this Ministry took place. The info session was of educational character, like the first one and it aimed at educating and sensitizing the representatives of these institutions on human rights of LGBTI persons.
Slobodanka Dekić talked about the life of LGBTI persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The focus was on presenting the violence and discrimination that LGBTI persons suffer, and also on the fear they go through. The reason for putting focus on violence and discrimination towards this minority group is that the research “Numbers of Equality 2. Research on Problems and Needs of LGBTI Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017” that Sarajevo Open Centre did showed that 81,7% of LGBTI persons suffered harassment. 60,9% of the respondents is in fear of potential harassment, 7% of them do not leave their homes because they belong to LGBTI population and there is high possibility of being attacked. Based on this data, it is clear the problem exists and that we must talk about violence and discrimination towards LGBTI persons, especially in the institutions that are in direct contact with the people of minority groups who suffer violence and discrimination.
Naida Kučukalić presented the Guidelines for Working with LGBTI Persons. These are the Guidelines that specifically relate to the competence that the Ministry of Labor, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees and its sectoral institutions have, and that could help in professional work with LGBTI persons through the services they provide within their competences.
The half-day Info Session was held in scope of the project „Building institutional networks of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons in Canton Sarajevo“ and financed by USAID’s Marginalized Populations Support Activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (USAID/PPMG).
