The conference “LBTIQ Women between Invisibility and Protection: Regional Perspectives and Experiences from Montenegro” opened in Podgorica, bringing together community representatives, civil society organisations and key stakeholders to discuss violence against LBTIQ women, institutional mistrust and the urgent need for real, accessible and non-discriminatory protection.
The event was opened by Ana Dedivanović, Executive Director of the LBTQ Women’s Association Stana, and Tijana Dragojević, Project Coordinator at Queer Montenegro. In their opening remarks, they centred the realities of LBTIQ women who have remained invisible for too long, while continuing to exist, love, build community and resist.
Jelena Čolaković presented the local research findings, showing that violence against LBTIQ women is often not limited to isolated incidents, but forms a continuum. This includes psychological pressure, verbal abuse, family rejection, threats of outing, digital harassment, control within relationships and mistrust in institutions.
One of the key findings presented during the conference was particularly clear: although 64% of respondents know where they could report violence, 80% have never reported it. This gap points to the need to move beyond the formal availability of protection mechanisms and ensure that institutions are trusted, accessible and able to respond without discrimination.
Bringing the regional perspective, Elena Petrovska, Project and Advocacy Coordinator at ERA and WLW Caucus Coordinator, underlined the importance of moving from research and data towards concrete protection.
“This dialogue is an important step from data to protection. We are here to work closely with institutions, policy makers and local organisations so that laws, services and referral pathways recognise LBTIQ survivors and protect them without discrimination. We now have solid evidence about how violence affects LBTIQ women across the region. What we need is cooperation so that these realities are recognised in policies, protocols and services,” said Petrovska.
The conference created space for a public dialogue on how institutions, civil society organisations and decision-makers can better recognise the specific forms of violence experienced by LBTIQ women and ensure that protection systems respond to their needs in practice.
This activity was part of the projects “Invisible Survivors,” “We Exist, We Resist,” and “From Data to Protection – Improving Cooperation among Key Actors in the Field of Gender-Based Violence against LBQ Women in the Western Balkans,” funded by the EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community network and the European Union.
The content is the sole responsibility of the LBTQ Women’s Association Stana, LGBTIQ Association Queer Montenegro, and ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Türkiye, which implement the projects, and does not necessarily reflect the views of donors.
