Lepa Mladjenovic is an LGBT activist in the Balkan region. But in a country only 20 years removed from a brutal war and genocide, "There is always something more important” to worry about, said Zagorac. A 2015 study by the SOC said that 52.8 percent of women over 15 in BiH had suffered domestic violence. For example, Zagorac said, BiH was one of the first countries to ratify the 2011 Istanbul Convention on combating domestic violence and gender-based violence. "We have a lot of laws in BiH, and we accept a lot of international documents and conventions, but they are not implemented," said Maida Zagorac, an SOC program coordinator. As a member state of the Council of Europe, and one that wants to join the EU, BiH will have to pass a legal framework that would regulate family rights of same-sex couples, said the SOC. But this has not reduced discrimination.Īccording to the SOC, in 2015 51 percent of LGBT people experienced some variety of discrimination, including physical violence (15 percent) and verbal abuse or harassment (72 percent). The law on Equality of the Sexes, passed in 2003, does not define "sexual orientation." In July, 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly amended the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, making it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Laws regarding LGBT rights are few and far between. "You have to prepare yourself when you go out of your house." He said he has seen his own friends suddenly become more masculine in public: puffing up their shoulders or wearing sunglasses. Your behavior becomes more conventional," Mirza said. "People can't express themselves in public spaces. Gay culture is thought of as a Western import, explained Sergej, a 17-year-old medical student in Banja Luka, the country's second-largest city. "Almost everyone I know is not out,” referring to being publicly gay.īiH is an extremely patriarchal society, activists told DW. "Everyone is afraid of getting fired from their job,” said Mirza, a 21 year old journalist. These outbursts of violence underscore the daily strain faced by many LGBT people in BiH. The motivation for the attack was listed as "unknown" in the report.īosnian police intervened after radical Muslims and hooligans disrupted the first gay festival in Sarajevo in 2008. The police released all four men after taking their statements. They threatened to detonate a bomb if anyone called the police. In March, 2016, four young men again stalked into Art Kriterion shouting anti-LGBT profanities. The Sarajevo Open Center (SOC), a prominent LGBT activist group, said the police have investigated one of the 14 people on a "violent behavior” misdemeanor charge. In February 2014, 14 masked men forced their way into the Art Kriterion Cinema in Sarajevo, a space known for being LGBT-friendly, and attacked two people. Several onlookers sustained head injuries. It would have been the first of its kind in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), but for the dozens of men - a combination of football fans and religious extremists - who swarmed the festival, reportedly shouting "kill the gays" and "Allahu akbar." They threw rocks and dragged people from their cars. In 2008, the LGBT community in Sarajevo planned a four-day cultural festival. But, beating up gay people is apparently one of them. When using a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo check the safe search settings where you can exclude adult content sites from your search results Īsk your internet service provider if they offer additional filters īe responsible, know what your children are doing online.There aren't many causes that unite Salafists and football hooligans. Use family filters of your operating systems and/or browsers Other steps you can take to protect your children are: More information about the RTA Label and compatible services can be found here.
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