EXIS

According to an EU LGBTI report published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 39% of LGBTI in Greece avoid often or always certain locations for fear of being assaulted, 51% felt discriminated against in at least one area of life in the year before the survey, while 33% reported being harassed the year before the survey. When it comes to reporting of hate-motivated violence & discrimination, only 10% went to the police in Greece to report physical or sexual attacks and only 11% reported their discrimination experiences to an equality body or another organisation in Greece. Concerning school community, 43% of LGBTI students (15–17 years old) claimed to be hiding their sexual orientation at school. In this direction, the Greek National Strategy for LGBTQI equality states that hiding sexual orientation, identity, expression and gender characteristics, reduced visibility, marginalization, stigmatization and school bullying that reaches even the point of physical violence, are just few of the problems faced by LGBTI+ students and their families. These problems affect both their educational performance as well as their mental (and often physical) health.

In general, almost half of LGBTI people surveyed across Europe experienced
discrimination or harassment. In this context, some people may not be aware of the challenges that LGBTI people can face, and this may cost and affect the most when it comes to the investigative procedure of combating discriminations and fighting hate speech/racist crimes against rainbow communities. For example, and as regards employment, the shares of respondents in the EU who felt discriminated against when looking for work were highest in Greece (19%), while at work the respective shares were 31% in Greece. At the same time, across all LGBTI groups, the majority (53%) of young adolescents (aged 15 to 17) felt discriminated against in at least one area of life at the highest rates in Greece (71%).

In this context, the objective of EXIS project is to establish a multi-sectoral network for the benefit of the members of the rainbow communities and the protection of victims against hate/racist crimes, as well as for securing their rights. The EXIS project focuses through capacity building activities, peer-to-peer learning techniques, development of pilot methods and tools, on: increasing knowledge/ adopting a gender-based approach towards members of the rainbow communities mainly victims of hate/racist crimes
police officers that will be trained through the project; reforming their perceptions towards CSOs; strengthening multi-sectoral cooperation culture among police officers, CSOs and other competent authorities for the protection of the LGBTQI communities and dealing with the underreporting of relevant crimes and conducting effective investigation processes.