LGBT National Strategy
LGBT National Strategy
What is it and how it is born
The National LGBT strategy (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) is a document produced by the Department of Equal Opportunities and by UNAR to give concrete measures and actions to prevent and oppose the discriminations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The text incorporates the Recommendation CM / Rec (2010) 5 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which is committed to protecting the rights of the LGBT community by promoting equal treatment and an operational plan against discrimination.
The Strategy has been elaborated and implemented with the active involvement of institutions, civil society, social partners and associations, who worked together to define the policies in matter of contrasting and preventing discriminations.
The National Strategy identifies four strategic axes of intervention. For each one, the objectives and measures to be implemented have been highlighted
- Education and instruction, in particular for what concerns the prevention and the opposition to intolerance and violence, as well as homophobic and transphobic bullying,
- Work, for what concerns discrimination in access to work and working conditions, differentiating between the situation of gay and lesbian people compared to that of transsexual and transgender people; in particular, attention is given to the problem of “visibility” of the latter, as well as to the promotion of diversity management policies and positive actions aimed at socio-employment inclusion;
- Security and Prisons, relating to the security and protection from the violence of the LGBT people, as well as preventing and contrasting “Hate crimes”, with particular attention to the information and awareness of Security forces and Prison administration personnel.
- Media and communication for contrasting stereotypes and prejudice in the representation of LGBT realities, which drive to intolerance, discrimination and violence, with particular care to the prevention of the so-called “hate speech”.
The strategy was approved by the Council of Ministers Presidency Department of Equal Opportunities on 29 April 2013.
Realized Projects
As regards the three axes Education and Education, Labor, Safety and Prisons, innovative training courses have been planned and implemented on the issues of discrimination by sexual orientation and gender identity, destined to the top figures of Public Administrations.
Regarding the Media and Communication axis, guidelines for information operators and an institutional web platform on LGBT issues have been planned and implemented.
Furthermore, two pilot projects have been carried out at national level, concerning transgender people who, as evidenced by many surveys,seem to be the majority at risk of marginalization and social exclusion.
In particular, one of these, implementing the provisions of the Security and Prisons axis, concerns the conditions of transgender people in prisons (living conditions, access to health, relations with prison workers and the population of prisoners). The second pilot project, in implementation of the provisions of the Labor axis, concerned specific legal and psychological services for transgender people, aimed at supporting the transition process and social and labor inclusion.