Ukraine approves first LGBT-inclusive national human rights strategy
Strategy aims to combat anti-LGBT discrimination and hatred in Ukraine
On Oct. 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree approving a new National Human Rights Strategy that explicitly commits the state to stronger protection of LGBTQ+ people and comprehensive action against discrimination, hate speech, and hate-motivated crimes.
The policy aims to bring Ukraine closer to compliance with European human rights standards as the nation pursues membership in the European Union, and aims to distance itself from Russia.
The decree acknowledges that current Ukrainian laws do not provide adequate protections for LGBTQ people, nor are mechanisms for protecting rights well understood by the public:
“LGBTQ+ remain one of the groups at increased risk of discrimination, hate speech and other manifestations of intolerance (hate). Sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sexual characteristics need to be reflected more clearly and consistently in legislation, particularly in the provisions regulating liability for criminal offenses motivated by intolerance and in mechanisms for protection against discrimination. Besides, there remain problems related to the lack of awareness of LGBTQ+ people about the mechanisms for protecting their rights, insufficient level of trust in state authorities and existing mechanisms for protecting rights, fears of stigmatization, etc. As a result, a significant part of victims do not seek help, even if there are grounds for protecting their rights provided for by law,” the decree states.
“Mechanisms for LGBTIQ+ access to social protection, administrative, social, medical, educational and other services, and legal aid need to be further improved.”
The LGBTQ+ business networking site MyGwork reports:
“The document highlights the need for more precise recognition of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in Ukrainian law. A key focus is reform of legislation on hate crimes and the development of more effective mechanisms to prevent and address discrimination in both public and private sphere.
“In practical terms, the strategy lays out measures to strengthen access for LGBTQ+ people to social protection, administrative services, healthcare, education and legal assistance. Authorities are tasked with improving the investigation of intolerance‑motivated crimes, raising public awareness of legal remedies, and introducing specialised training for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges on equality and non-discrimination.
“For employers and business leaders, Ukraine’s strategy sends a clear signal: equality and inclusion are moving from voluntary corporate values into concrete legal expectations. Stronger protections for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable groups will shape future compliance obligations, workplace policies, recruitment, benefits design and diversity training programs.”
The Ukraine-based LGBT Human Rights NASH SVIT Center heralded the president’s announcement in a blog post:
“It is noteworthy that the Rule of Law Roadmap mentioned in the Strategy provides for the adoption of several bills aimed at protecting LGBTQ rights — in particular, amendments to criminal, administrative, and anti-discrimination legislation, where sexual orientation and gender identity should be included in the list of protected characteristics, as well as the introduction of registered civil partnerships available to same-sex couples. The adoption of such legislation is also provided for in the benchmarks formulated by the European Commission to assess the readiness of our country for EU accession.
“The next task is to develop a new Action Plan to implement the National Strategy, which, however, will certainly include all the provisions contained in the Roadmap. Nash Svit Center, which participated in the development of both the Roadmap and the National Strategy, together with other Ukrainian LGBTQ organizations will provide its proposals for the new Plan.”
