National analysis on violence against LGBTI+ children: Croatia

Abstract

National analysis of violence against LGBTI + children in Croatia. The main objective of this research was to assess the needs and good practices of LGBTI+ and gender non-conforming children living in Croatia, with regards to five areas - family, public spaces, health, education and media. Along with that, one of the aims was to map good practices regarding the same topic. In order to ensure relevant stakeholders for the semi-structured interviews, professional experience and background on LGBTI+ topics were used as main criteria when recruiting stakeholders. The original interview scripts were translated and adapted to Croatian, while all ten interviews were conducted by Zagreb Pride team. Overall, we have interviewed 10 persons: social workers, leading activists, psychologists working with children, journalists, education experts and government officials. Zagreb Pride sent official letters and then arranged interviews which were mostly held in February 2020. All of the interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The age range was from 27 - 55, while 60.47 % of respondents identified as female, 16.28 % as a male, 14 % of persons would prefer not to say or have chosen “other”, 4.65 % of them identify as non-binary, 2.33% as a trans person and 2.33% as a gender variant person. Prior to the interviews, we provided participants with detailed information about the project and asked them to sign the consent form. One signed copy of the consent form was given to each participant. Interviews took place mostly at Zagreb Pride office space, since most of the participants were familiar and comfortable with it. One interview was conducted via Skype, because of the COVID19 precautions and measures. All of the discussions were fruitful and insightful for further research