Physical violence on ground of sexual orientation.

(Application no. 50231/13), 9 May 2014 

Find Court’s communication here.

  • The applicant complained of the lack of an appropriate procedural response of the Croatian authorities to an act of violence by a private party motivated by her sexual orientation.
  • ILGA-Europe together with the AIRE Centre and the ICJ provided an overview of the prevalence and nature of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes in Council of Europe member states. They presented a survey of international, EU and comparative law on the procedural and substantive obligations of member states to investigate such crimes, including a possible bias motive, and, when determining sanctions, to take proper account of the bias motive. 

See also

News

Significant European Court judgments in two cases concerning violence against LGBTI people involving state agents

Two successful European Court cases brought against Russia underline state obligations to protect LGBTI community from violent counter demonstrators and general hate motivated violence.
read more
News

Romania failed to protect same-sex couples, European court rules

European court has found that Romania breached the right to respect for the family life of 21 same-sex Romanian couples by failing to recognise their relationships.
read more
Blog

Combatting Hate Crime: How can LGBTI organisations work with authorities?

Tackling hate crimes against LGBTI people requires the cooperation of police authorities, but for different reasons this doesn’t always happen. In this blog, we share some ways in which LGBTI organisations can contribute to combating attacks against the LGBTI community, which are still on the rise across Europe.
read more
Blog

Anti-LGBTI violence in Europe and Central Asia: The Numbers

The latest ILGA-Europe Annual Review reported on a deeply worrying rise of violence against LGBTI people in Europe and Central Asia, most of it related to the growing prevalence of hate speech from public figures. Here are the facts in the 34 countries we reported on.
read more
Blog

For good and bad: The trending impacts on LGBTI human rights in Europe and Central Asia

The most striking finding of ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review 2023 is a stark rise in the ferocity of anti-LGBTI hate and violence reported in Europe and Central Asia. But alongside this worrying trend, there are positive developments in areas such as legal gender recognition, public support, intersex human rights and civil society. Here are the key highlights.
read more
News

European Court rules against Lithuania labelling LGBTI-inclusive fairytale book harmful to children

Published in 2013 by the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and written by the late lesbian writer, Neringa Dangvyde Macate, the book was entitled ‘Amber […]
read more
News

New funding program for data-collection on violence in Europe and Central Asia

ILGA-Europe invites organisations and initiative groups from the region of Europe and Central Asia to join our program aimed to support the LGBTI movement in […]
read more
News

Sexual orientation is not a reason to terminate a contract with a self-employed worker, says Advocate General of the CJEU

Today, the Advocate General of the CJEU has issued an opinion in the case of J.K. vs the Polish public broadcaster company TP, stating that discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment is not acceptable under EU law.
read more
Blog

The timeline leading from anti-LGBTI Instagram posts to the “honour killing” of an LGBTI activist in Azerbaijan

The cousin of LGBTI activist Avaz Hafizli has been jailed for his horrific murder, which came on foot of protests against hateful Instagram posts by the Instagram star, Sevinj Huseynova, who called for the physical ‘removal’ of sexual minorities and trans people from Azerbaijan. The trial was a travesty of justice, according to activists.
read more
News

European Court Rules Against Armenia Inaction in Anti-LGBTI Hate Crime Case

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that authorities in Armenia failed to protect an LGBT bar owner and activist from homophobic physical and verbal […]
read more
Case Law

A.B. and K.V. v Romania

Recognition of same-sex marriages in the context of freedom of movement in the EU through the prism of implementation of CJEU’s Coman judgment Submitted jointly […]
read more
Blog

The 5 trending attacks on the fundamental rights of LGBTI people in the EU in 2021

Right now, as the war on Ukraine escalates, democracy, human rights and equality matter more than ever in Europe. In our submission to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law report, we’ve identified key trends in the systematic attacks on the rights of LGBTI people across EU member states.
read more
Case Law

Macaté v. Lithuania

Freedom of expression, warning labels restricting artistic expression.
read more
News

Commission includes LGBTI people in initiative to tackle hate crime and hate speech across the European Union

The European Commission has put forward a legal initiative to extend the list of EU crimes to include hate speech, both online and offline, and hate crime, with clear understanding that LGBTI people must be protected.
read more
News

Open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

ILGA-Europe,  OII Europe, and TGEU urge the European Commission to acknowledge the existing prevalence of the violence and incitement to discrimination against LGBTI people, through naming SOGIGESC explicitly as protected grounds in the upcoming EU-level hate crime and hate speech legal initiative.
read more
Blog

Say Their Names: The trans and gender diverse people whose murders were reported in Europe and Central Asia last year

The murders of 375 trans and gender-diverse people were reported between October 2020 and September 2021, according to the latest Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) update, and 2021 is set to be the deadliest year for trans communities since TGEU began collecting data. We say the names of those whose lives were cut short in our region, with a view towards a world where all trans people can live in equality, freedom and peace.
read more
Case Law

Coman and Others v Romania

Recognition of same-sex marriages in the context of freedom of movement in the EU through the prism of implementation of CJEU’s Coman judgment.
read more
Blog

How trans parents are better protected after European Court ruling

Recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a trans woman in Russia who was denied access to her children because of her gender identity and transition. Read on to find out how this may benefit all trans and LGBTI parents in Europe.
read more
Report

Poland Anti-LGBTI Hate Timeline

Over the past number of years, LGBTI people have come under increasing attack from ruling politicians, religious leaders and other public figures in Poland. This […]
read more
Blog

Where are my rights? These essential maps chart the recognition of LGBTI people across the globe

Every year, ILGA-Europe publishes our Rainbow Map, charting LGBTI rights in 49 European countries. But we’re not the only benchmarking map on the scene. From sexual orientation laws in the world to inclusive churches in Europe, these charts depict the state of LGBTI rights and more across the world.
read more
Blog

How LGBTI rights are being used for political manipulation in Europe, and why that’s something everyone should be worried about

Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic has issued a powerful comment, clarifying that LGBTI people are being used as a political pawns by ultra-conservative leaders in more and more European countries, and that in turn the human rights and freedom of everyone are being undermined. Here’s what she had to say.
read more
Report

LBTI women in sport: violence, discrimination, and lived experiences

In March 2021, a coalition of European networks working on LGBTI rights and including ILGA-Europe, EL*C, TGEU, OII Europe and EGLSF submitted to the Parliamentary […]
read more
Press Release

LGBTI organisations welcome European Court judgement in favour of trans parental rights in Russia

Today, in a landmark judgement strongly welcomed by TGEU and ILGA-Europe, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of a woman in […]
read more
Blog

Freedom of movement for same-sex spouses: The Coman Case, 3 years on

ON 5 JUNE 2018, THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (CJEU) ISSUED A LANDMARK JUDGEMENT AGAINST ROMANIA, RECOGNISING THAT THE TERM SPOUSE INCLUDES SAME-SEX SPOUSES UNDER EU FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT LAWS. THREE YEARS LATER, CLAI HAMILTON, SPOUSE OF ROMANIAN CITIZEN ADRIAN COMAN, HAS NOT BEEN GRANTED RESIDENCY YET. NOW THEY’VE BROUGHT THE CASE TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS (ECHR). HERE, ADRIAN COMAN TALKS ABOUT THE ORIGINAL CASE, AND HIS HOPES WITH THIS LATEST DEVELOPMENT.
read more
Podcast

Rainbow Family Rights in Europe – Part 1: The Coman Case Three Years On

Three years ago, Adrian and his partner Clai were successful bringing their case to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which judged that […]
read more
News

European Court will consider lack of implementation of EU law to enable freedom of movement for same-sex spouses

Almost three years after the European Court ruled that Romania must recognise a same-sex couple under EU freedom of movement legislation, its government is yet to implement the judgement.
read more
Blog

“If You Are Parent in One Country, You Are Parent in Every Country”: But still today a child can be stateless in the EU just because it has two mothers

A baby born to two mothers, one from Gibraltar and one from Bulgaria, has become a test case at the European Court of Justice for the freedom of movement of rainbow families in the EU. Read on and find out how to join our campaign for parents without borders!
read more
Press Release

The European Court of Human Rights finds Croatian response to violent homophobic attack fosters impunity for hate crime

A judgement issued today by the European Court of Human Rights finds that the response of Croatian authorities to a hate crime against a lesbian woman was “particularly destructive of fundamental human rights”.
read more
Blog

“It feels as if we’re trapped with our abusers.” Ukrainian activist Anna Sharyhina tells the story of unhindered anti-LGBTI abuse in Kharkiv

Throughout 2020, LGBTI activists have been harassed, intimidated and threatened by well-known far right groups in Ukraine, while police and local authorities turn a blind eye. Here is activist Anna Sharyhina’s alarming story, and how you can lend her and other LGBTI Ukrainian activists your support.
read more
Case Law

V.D. v Russia

Asylum. Submitted jointly by ILGA-Europe, AIRE Centre, ICJ and UKLGIG.
read more