A New Guide Helps Police, Social Services and NGOs Give Better Support to LGBTI Victims of Hate Crimes

A new manual for trainers of professionals, working with victims of anti-LGBTI hate crimes, a practical guide and a collection of good practices were published by a network of European NGOs. The initiative is part of the project ‘Come Forward’, funded by the European Union. The Bulgarian editions of the documents were prepared by the Resource Center – Bilitis Foundation and the GLAS Foundation. They can be downloaded for free from the Bilitis Foundation’s website.

The manual was written by Eva Stucker and Jasna Majic from Lambda Warsaw and Galop UK. It brings together important tips and tools for trainers to more effectively prepare those who help and support victims. This includes the use of appropriate language and terminology in the context of working with LGBTI people, the specificities of hate crimes compared to other types of crimes, and the barriers that the victims encounter in their attempts to get support. Each topic is accompanied by tips for efficient training methods that can be used by trainers to achieve better results.

The document is intended for trainers in law enforcement agencies, social services and NGOs. There is also a practical guide by Marko Jurcic from Zagreb Pride and a collection of good practices. The project aims to train over 1,000 professionals in 10 EU countries by the end of 2018. Among them is the Bulgarian NGO Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights.