ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey in close part

ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey, in close partnership with its member organisation from Bosnia and Herzegovina - CURE Foundation, submitted this Written Contribution on the position of lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex women (LBTI women) in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW).

This report is a summary of developments in the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) and Turkey from January until December 2018. 

ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey in close part

ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey in close part

This report presents 41 good practices on combating underreporting and supporting victims of anti-LGBT hate crime that were selected from nine European countries participating in the project “Come Forward”.

ERA’s Annual General Assembly is the biggest LGBTI event organized in the region since 2015. The conference is a lobby, advocacy, capacity building and visibility event which brings together more than 160 participants from across the region, Europe and beyond. LGBTI activists, state officials (governments, Parliaments, equality bodies etc.), donors, researchers, journalists, diplomatic community, representatives of international organizations and members of the local community attend the event.  

Republic of Turkey joined Council of Europe on 9 August 1949 and is one of the oldest members. The Council of Europe has a well-established large-scale country-specific co-operation in Turkey mainly in the field of rule of law and fundamental freedoms. However, the country has been facing some major challenges in the past years, especially in the field of human rights and freedoms, including the overall protection of the rights of LGBTI persons.