Mersin Seven Colours LGBT Training Research and Solidarity Association published their report, “2019 Mediterranean Region Report on Rights Violations against LGBTI+” with the support of Etkiniz.

Below you can read the executive summary of the report, originally published in Turkish:

The aim of the monitoring work was to report on the rights violations against LGBTI+ individuals, who go unheard and face many violations, at the regional level in the five provinces of the Mediterranean Region (Adana, Mersin, Hatay, Gaziantep and Antalya). To this end, the objectives were to form a regional working network consisting of CSO member volunteers, running coordinated and systematic work in the field after receiving necessary training for field work and reporting, to work towards preparing the report and making it public through a two-day workshop including the project team, CSO representatives, academics and lawyers and to form a culture of cooperation, co-working and solidarity at the regional level among CSOs.

The target audience of the study consists of around 70 CSOs and independent activists in the five provinces (Adana, Mersin, Hatay, Gaziantep and Antalya). The method used for the monitoring work is assessing the reporting from the five provinces. There reports cover data including field work, in-depth interviews, statements by victimised LGBTI+ people, witnesses’ testimonies, applications by phone, media coverage and data obtained under ongoing court cases. A form with 32 questions was prepared for the reporting and 132 reports were obtained from the five provinces. The reporting work was assessed with statistical distribution taken into account. Workshop outputs were used in the formulation of the final report.

The standards taken as the basis of the monitoring work are the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Eradicating Impunity for Serious Human Rights Violations, European Court of Human Rights decisions, Constitutional Court jurisprudence and Article 216 on Provoking Hatred and Enmity and Defamation of the Turkish Criminal Code.

The findings of the human rights monitoring work indicate that the rights violations faced by LGBTI+ individuals in both the public sector and social life. Among the foremost violations are physical violence (hitting, kicking, battering etc.), verbal violence (insulting, engaging in hate, homophobic and transphobic speech etc.), economic violence (mobbing, job termination etc.), sexual violence (forcing into sexual intercourse, without physical contact etc.), being followed and threatened, prevention of the access to right to health (HIV tests being carried out without permission, the labelling or disclosure of the person in records, inadequate maintenance of privacy, hurtful and judgmental approaches, maltreatment of the patient before their family), the prevention of the access to the right to education, damage to belongings or property, stigmatisation or theft, forced retention (under lock and key, in isolation etc.), refusal of the right to protection by security forces (the police, prosecutor’s offices etc.).

The report also emphasises that the organisations that can run protection and psychosocial activities are not adequate in number.

Please click below to view the original version of the report (Turkish):

http://mersinyedirenk.org/images/2019-akdeniz-lgbti-yonelik-hak-ihlalleri-raporu.pdf