Slovak Republic: Situation of sexual minorities within the Roma community, including legislation; treatment by the Roma community, state protection and support services, specifically in Prešov and Levoca areas (2013-2015)

1. Overview

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, several sources reported that they are not aware of any research that has been done on the situation and treatment of sexual minorities within the Roma community in Slovakia (CVEK 20 May 2015; HRL 15 May 2015; Former policy advisor 6 May 2015) and that there are no known Roma LGBT activists or scholars examining these issues (ibid.). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Director of the Human Rights League (HRL), a civic association of lawyers that provides free legal aid to migrants and refugees in Slovakia (HRL n.d.), sent information gathered from two Slovak-speaking NGOs involved with LGBT issues: TransFúzia (TransFusion) and Foundation Milan Simecka (HRL 15 May 2015). The representative of TransFúzia gave the view that "both topics [Roma and sexual minorities] are so marginalized that their crossing points are ... invisible" (ibid.).

2. Attitudes and Treatment

2.1 Societal Attitudes Toward and Treatment of Sexual Minorities

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a former policy advisor with the Bratislava-based NGO, the Roma Institute, which focuses on Roma inclusion and related public policies, stated that LGBT issues are still "marginal" within the "mainstream Slovak society, which is still very homophobic" (Former policy advisor 6 May 2015). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Executive Director of the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (Slovenské národné stredisko pre l'udské práva, SNSLP), Slovakia's national human rights institution responsible for researching, monitoring and evaluating the observance of equal treatment and providing legal assistance to victims of discrimination, indicated that it is not easy for sexual minorities to be open in Slovakia (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK), a Bratislava-based independent research institute focused on minority rights and policy analysis (CVEK n.d.), stated that LGBT people in Slovakia "usually hide their identity" as their sexual orientation can be an "obstacle" in the fields of employment, health care, education, or in "day-to-day social interactions" (CVEK 20 May 2015). According to the SNSLP, there is a part of Slovak society that is "not tolerant towards LGBTI people" (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). According to the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, LGBT advocates had indicated that "prejudice and official and societal discrimination persisted" against LGBT people during that year, though "no official cases were available for citation" (US 27 Feb. 2014, 27).

In its annual 2015 review of the human rights situation of LGBT people in Europe, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), the "world federation of national and local organizations dedicated to achieving equal rights for [LGBTI] people" (ILGA n.d.), stated that, in Slovakia, LGBT activists reported a "sharp increase in bias-motivated speech across the public sphere," such as anti-equality organizations "likening LGBTI people and their rights to a 'culture of death'" (ILGA 2015, 146).

The Slovak Spectator reported in an article in September 2013 that approximately 80,000 participants took part in a "right to life march" in Košice that aimed to "emphasize marriage as an institution between a man and a woman" and was organized on the same weekend as a gay pride parade in Bratislava (Slovak Spectator 30 Sept. 2013b).

2.2. Incidents of Violence Against Sexual Minorities

According to a 2014 report on Slovakia by the Council of Europe's independent human rights body, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), no official data on trans/homophobic violence exists in Slovakia (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, para. 70). According to the US Department of State's 2015 Crime and Safety Report for Slovakia, referring to the broader community of sexual minorities, "reported incidents of violence and harassment targeting gay, lesbian and bisexual communities are rare" (US 16 Jan. 2015).

2.3 Roma Attitudes Toward and Treatment of Sexual Minorities

The Executive Director of the SNSLP stated that "[i]n general, the issue of bisexual or homosexual orientation is mostly tabooed in Roma families," noting that "the rules in Roma communities and for Roma individuals are not based only on the laws and rules of the state itself" but that "family, private and societal life is ... affected also by common customary law - unwritten rules which originated centries ago and are not favourable for homosexuals," (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). The same source stated that

[t]he Centre contacted Združenie mladých rómov (Association of Young Roma) which consulted ... with three NGOs working with Roma people in Eastern Slovakia. In general, all of them confirmed that the situation of Roma who are sexual minorities is a taboo in Roma society. (ibid.)

The CVEK representative indicated that "there is great possibility of LGBTI Roma being ostracized by their own communities that are to a large extent very traditional, particularly in the eastern regions where they live in segregated and extremely impoverished communities (including Levoca and Prešov)" (CVEK 20 May 2015). According to a professor of anthropology at Thompson Rivers University whose research specialization includes Slovak Roma, heterosexual neighbours and relatives of Romani gay men and lesbians "may express some degree of disapproval (often on religious grounds)" (Professor 23 May 2015). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an independent researcher on Roma issues in Europe and doctoral candidate at the University of Brighton, focusing on the experiences of LGBTQI Roma, including in Slovakia, indicated that, based on anecdotal evidence and individual interviews she has conducted with both gay and straight Roma, "attitudes toward Roma LGBTIQ in Prešov and other parts of Eastern Slovakia are still shaped by deeply entrenched negative attitudes encouraged by Catholicism whereby minority sexualities and gender identities are seen as a disease" (Independent Researcher 25 May 2015). She added that "relationships are seen as existing for the purposes of procreation only" and as a result, "a lot of gay Romani men think of themselves as bisexual, ending up in straight relationships, bringing up children, occasionally engaging in male to male sex" (ibid.).

Sources report on a 2014 case in the UK involving a Slovak Roma family who moved there, in which the parents sought to stop the adoption of their two children to a same-sex couple due to the parents' opposition to the same-sex couple's "lifestyle" (Legal Monitor Worldwide 24 May 2014; BBC 24 May 2014a). In a witness statement to the UK Family Court hearing the case, the Roma Slovak parents stated that the prospective adopters "'are a homosexual couple and as such their lifestyle goes against our Roma culture and lifestyle'" (Legal Monitor Worldwide 24 May 2014). The BBC indicated that the Roma Slovak parents also stated that "'[h]omosexuality is not recognised in the worldwide Roma community'" (BBC 24 May 2014a).

2.4 General Societal Treatment of Roma Sexual Minorities

Numerous sources gave the opinion that Roma people who are sexual minorities would face multiple levels of discrimination because Roma and sexual minorities are groups that each encounter discrimination in the Slovak Republic (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015; CVEK 20 May 2015; HRL 15 May 2015). According to the former policy advisor, since Roma and LGBT are both groups that experience discrimination in Slovakia, the "intersection of these two conditions together must be extremely difficult" (Former policy advisor 6 May 2015). According to the HRL Director, the representative of the Milan Simecka Foundation gave the view that a person who is Roma from a "segregated locality in [an] economically disadvantaged region" would face "discrimination and racism" from the majority for being Roma, as well as exclusion from "one's own (traditional) community for the reasons of being LGBTI" (HRL 15 May 2015). Similarly, a representative of the Council of the Non-Governmental Organizations of the Roma Communities (RMORK), an association of over 120 Roma organizations (Slovak Republic[2014]), who was contacted by the SNSLP, gave the view that discrimination against Roma homosexuals living in "segregated and separated Roma villages in Eastern Slovakia is critical regarding the discrimination of Roma homosexuals" (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015).

Sources indicate that some Roma who identify as sexual minorities move to Bratislava, the Czech Republic and Western Europe (Independent researcher 25 May 2015; Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). According to two sources who provided information based on personal interviews and contacts, some people who are Roma sexual minorities are able to be open about their sexuality (Professor 23 May 2015; Independent researcher 25 May 2015), particularly when living in larger cities (ibid.). According to the independent researcher, the people that she has spoken to who are "Romani LGBTIQ people from Prešov were males and were hiding their sexuality/gender from their families/communities" but did not hide it when attending events for LGBT people in the Czech Republic, or when migrating to Western Europe (ibid.). The Professor said that, in the course of his research on fertility rates [1] in Svinia, a village of 1,200 Roma in the Prešov Region, he became aware of 9 LGBT Roma persons living openly in Svinia (Professor 23 May 2015). He also indicated that, based on anecdotal information, there are some LGBT Roma living in Svinia and two other villages in Prešov, who "live in quasi-permanent households with same-sex partners" (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.5 Incidents of Violence Against Roma Sexual Minorities

The SNSLP indicated that it has not received or handled any cases of discrimination or mistreatment of Roma people who are sexual minorities within or outside of Roma communities (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). According to information provided to the SNSLP by the Ministry of Interior (Presidium of the Police Force, Criminal Police Office), for the period between 2013 to May 2015, there were no reports received of criminality where the victims were members of Roma sexual minority groups (Slovak Republic 21 May 2015). The SNSLP expressed the view that there are cases of discrimination and mistreatment of Roma sexual minorities that occur in practice, but they are not reported to the Centre, or, they are not reported at all (ibid. 20 May 2015).

Further information on the situation and treatment of LGBT Roma living in Slovakia, particularly in the Prešov Region, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. Legislation and Implementation

According to sources, same-sex activity has been legal in Slovakia since 1962 (GlobalGayz 5 Mar. 2012; ILGA May 2015, 27). Human Rights Watch reports that Slovakia does not legally recognize relationships between same-sex partners (Human Rights Watch 8 Feb. 2015). Sources report that in 2014, a constitutional amendment was passed and came into effect defining marriage exclusively as the union of a man and a woman (ibid.; ILGA 2015, 146).

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is against the law in Slovakia (US 27 Feb. 2014, 16; GlobalGayz 5 Mar. 2012), particularly under the Anti-discrimination Act (ibid.; Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, para. 20-21) which transposes EU directives on combating discrimination and contains provisions against "direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, instruction and incitement to discrimination ... in the fields of employment, social security, healthcare, education and in the field of provision of goods and services" (ibid.). The Council of Europe indicates that according to the Act, "discrimination based on sexual or gender 'identification' is also deemed to be discrimination based on gender" (ibid.). The SNSLP is reportedly the state body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Anti-discrimination Act (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, 9). According to the SNSLP, the effective implementation and enforcement of legislation protecting the rights of sexual minorities in Slovakia, is "precluded in many cases by under-reporting" (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). The ECRI report states that the Anti-Discrimination Act is not "applied adequately," since the SNSLP "does not function properly or independently" (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, 9). The same source indicates that LGBT NGOs have reported a number of instances of "hostile and at times offensive discourse targeting sexual orientation by political leaders," such as statements by the Slovak National Party (SNS) leader posted on the party website "depicting homosexuals as abnormal deviants akin to paedophiles," as well as offensive public statements by the Catholic Bishops' conference; however, the statements did not result in criminal prosecution, civil proceedings , nor prompt "any meaningful reaction" from the SNSLP (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, 21).

Sources report that in May 2013, the Criminal Code was changed to adopt a provision prohibiting hate crimes based on sexual orientation (Freedom House 2014, 577; Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, para. 75). Further information on the implementation of provisions regarding hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

4. State Protection

Sources report that the government created a committee to examine issues of LGBT rights as part of the Government Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, 9; US 27 Feb. 2014, 16), in October 2012 (ibid.). The Council is "an advisory body of the Government of the Slovak Republic and includes representatives from the state administration, academics and the non-governmental (NGO) sector" (Slovakia 17 Oct. 2012). Also, ILGA-Europe reports that the Slovak government finalised its National Human Rights Strategy in 2014; however, the document received "strong public criticism, mostly directed at the chapter concerning LGBTI people's human rights" (ILGA 2015, 146). According to the Slovak Spectator, the secretary of the Government's Human Rights Council, who supported the human rights agenda on LGBT rights, along with other officials who had offered support, were the targets of "'personal invectives, rough offences [and] hateful blackmail'" (The Slovak Spectator 30 Sep. 2013a).

According to the ECRI report, ILGA-Europe reported two "minor physical assaults" during the Bratislava Rainbow Pride March in 2013 which were "successfully investigated by police" (Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, note 51). The Presidium of the Police Force indicated to the SNSLP that it had received three cases of criminality targeting victims because they were members of sexual minority groups between 2013-2015: two perpetrators were detained and had indictments filed against them for "dangerous threatening" and one perpetrator was detained, prosecuted and sentenced for a case of extortion (Slovak Republic 21 May 2015). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

The Slovak Republic held its first Gay Pride Parade in 2010; however, the event was disrupted by a counter-demonstration staged by a group of right wing opponents (GlobalGayz 5 Mar. 2012; US 16 Jan. 2015), described as neo-nazi skinheads (ibid.). According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), at least two people were wounded when several dozen skinheads attacked the parade with stones and smokebombs (AFP 22 May 2010). Slovak news agency Tlacova Agentura Slvenskej Republiky (TASR) reported that 200 police officers were assigned to the event, and 29 "extremists" were arrested following the disruption (TASR 26 May 2010). The Slovak Spectator interviewed the organizers of Pride 2013 in Bratislava, who indicated that the event went undisturbed, with no serious incidents being reported, "unlike in previous years"; however, they remarked that some officials who had "publicly supported the Rainbow Pride or agreed to participate, were targeted with hate mail ... which caused some of them to back out of the event" (30 Sept. 2013a). According to the 2015 US Crime and Safety Report, the last several years' Pride events have occurred without disruption due to "better preparation by the police and city government" (US 16 Jan. 2015).

The independent researcher stated that there is "general bias against and mistreatment of Roma by law enforcement agencies in Slovakia" and that "given the level of under-reporting and lack of trust of the police by the Roma, it is likely that a Romani LGBTIQ person who has been assaulted would not report the incident" (Independent researcher 25 May 2015). Further information about the treatment of Roma sexual minorities by the police could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

5. Support Services

SNSLP indicated that the two most significant LGBT support organizations in Slovakia are located in Bratislava: Iniciatíva Inakost (Initiative Otherness) and the Queer Leaders Forum (QLF) (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). Iniciatíva Inakost runs a website where people can report homophobic incidents (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015; Council of Europe 16 Sept. 2014, para. 70). With the financial assistance of the Slovak government, QLF established the "Q Centrum" where LGBTI people can obtain psychological, social, and legal assistance, as well as access an LGBTI library (QLF n.d.; Slovak Republic 20 May 2015) and a hotline (ibid.).

The SNSLP indicated that it is not aware of any LGBT organizations in Levoèa or Prešov, and is not aware of any groups focused particularly on assisting Roma sexual minorities in Slovakia (Slovak Republic 20 May 2015). The HRL Director quoted the representative of the Milan Simecka Foundation, who gave the view that Roma sexual minorities living in "segregated" or "economically disadvantaged" areas experience "defacto lack of available assistance" from LGBT associations (HRL 15 May 2015). According to the representative of CVEK, there are only a few organizations in Slovak Republic that support LGBT people and she indicated that Roma living in "segregated or separated localities generally lack access to institutions of non-Romani society due to their social exclusion" (CVEK 25 May 2015).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] The Professor's information about Roma LGBT persons is not based on a specific study focused on LGBT Roma in Slovak Republic (Professor 23 May 2015). As part of his ongoing research (he updates his data set every two to three years) on fertility rates and reproductive behaviour among Roma in Svinia [a rural community in the Prešov region, approximately 8 kilometres from the town of Prešov], in instances where individuals are not reproductively active, the professor tries to ascertain the reasons for this, and LGBT status is one of the reasons observed as a variable of reproductive behaviour (ibid.). The Professor's information is based on data he acquires from members of the community and from one-on-one interviews for his data set on fertility (ibid.).

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 22 May 2010. "Skinheads Attack Slovakia Gay Pride Parade: Report." (Factiva)

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 24 May 2014a. "Same-Sex Couple Can Adopt Roma Boys, Court Rules." [Accessed 20 May 2015]

Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK). 25 May 2015. Correspondence from a representative.

_____. 20 May 2015. Correspondence from a representative.

_____. N.d. "Mission Statement and Main Activities." [Accessed 3 June 2015]

Council of Europe. 16 September 2014. European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). ECRI Report on Slovakia (Fifth Monitoring Cycle). [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015]

Former policy advisor, the Roma Institute. 6 May 2015. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Freedom House. 2014. "Slovakia." Nations in Transit 2014. Grigorij Meseznikov, Miroslav Kollár, and Martin Bútora. [Accessed 6 May 2015]

Global Gayz. 5 March 2012. "Gay Life in Slovakia." [Accessed 21 May 2015]

The Human Rights League (HRL). 15 May 2015. Correspondence from the Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 21 May 2015]

Human Rights Watch. 8 February 2015. "Slovakia: Low Turnout Scuttles Discriminatory Referendum." [Accessed 3 June 2015]

Independent Researcher. 25 May 2015. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). May 2015. Aengus Carroll and Lucas Paoli Itaborahy. State-Sponsored Homophobia. A World Survey of Laws: Criminalisation, Protection and Recognition of Same-Sex Love. 10th Edition. [Accessed 11 May 2015]

_____. 2015. ILGA-Europe. "Slovakia." Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe 2015. [Accessed 11 May 2015]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 3 June 2015]

Legal Monitor Worldwide. 24 May 2014. "Family Law Court Rejects Romani Parents' Bid to Return Children." (Factiva)

Professor of anthropology, Thompson Rivers University. 23 May 2015. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Queer Leaders Forum (QLF). N.d. "Q-Centrum is Here for You!" [Accessed 22 May 2015]

Slovak Republic. 21 May 2015. Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (SNSLP). Correspondence from the Executive Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. 20 May 2015. Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (SNSLP). Correspondence from the Executive Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. [2014]. Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (SNSLP). "Input of the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights to the Request for Information on Human Rights Situation of Roma." [Accessed 22 May 2015]

_____. 17 October 2012. Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. "Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equity Adopted Resolution on the LGBTI Commission Statute." [Accessed 2 June 2015]

The Slovak Spectator. 30 September 2013a. Michaela Terenzani. "Rainbow Pride Takes Place amid Hateful Campaign." [Accessed 2 June 2015]

_____. 30 September 2013b. Michaela Terenzani. "Big Turnout at Kosice Pro-Life March." [Acceeed 2 June 2015]

Tlacova Agentura Slovenskej Republiky (TASR). 26 May 2010. "Amnesty International: Police Failed to Protect Gay Parade." (Factiva)

United States (US). 16 January 2015. Department of State. Slovakia 2015 Crime and Safety Report. [Accessed 7 Apr. 2015]

_____. 27 February 2014. Department of State. "Slovakia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013. [Accessed 11 May 2015]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: The following were unable to provide information for this Response: Center for Civil and Human Rights in Košice; ILGA Europe; Iniciatíva Inakost; a gender researcher who has worked with the Council of Europe on Roma issues; Special Legal Advisor who has worked on issues of multiple discrimination of Roma, Equality and Diversity Forum.

Attempts to contact the following were unsuccessful within the time constraints of this Response: European Roma Rights Centre; Ganymedes; Queer Leaders Forum; Rainbow Hearts; Slovak Republic - Public Defender of Rights; Victim Support Slovakia.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; BBC; ecoi.net; Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'Homme; Ganymedes; Gay Star News; Human Rights Watch; Institute for War and Peace Reporting; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; IRIN; Minority Rights Group International; The New York Times; Pink News; Q-Centrum; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; TransFúzia; United Nations - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Refworld, ReliefWeb; Victim Support Slovakia.