“Report on the status of LGBT persons in workplaces in BiH” published

With a support of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, a publication named Report on the status of LGBT persons in workplaces in BiH has been published in the Human Rights Edition. The authors of this publication are Damir Banović and Edina Sprečaković.

In BiH, like in many other countries in transition, the Anti-discrimination Law relatively well regulates and prohibits discrimination, however this regulation is not accompanied by adequate implementation. Partial reason for inadequate implementation of this Law might be attributed to the fear LGBT persons have of reporting workplace discrimination and mobbing cases. This reason is rather dominant in BiH, especially if we take into account the high rate of unemployment and almost permanent political and economical crisis which affects all the BH citizens, including LGBT persons. The possibility of violation of the right to work, and other work related rights, makes LGBT persons less confident and less prone to openly express their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Even though there are no records or evidence of workplace discrimination cases in BiH which explicitly concern LGBT persons, this lack of official data does not mean that these cases do not exist. BiH shares its legal tradition and similar antidiscrimination regulation with its neighbouring countries Serbia and Croatia, and their comparative experiences are a good indicator for the proper implementation of antidiscrimination regulation, as well as all the issues which accompany implementation of these, relatively new, laws in the region.

There were also no specific research targeting attitudes of employers and employees towards employees of different sexual orientation and gender identity, nor the status of LGBT employees in their workplaces, conducted in BiH. This report presents some of the research conducted in Croatia, and because of the similar tradition, political culture and social treatment of minorities, these reports can be used as a probable indicator of the situation LGBT persons find themselves in BiH.

While gathering information for this report, Sarajevo Open Centre has sent several inquiries to the institutions in charge of implementation of antidiscrimination regulations, associations of employers and syndicates. Based on the information received, none of the institutions which responded to our inquiries is familiar with and has any data on workplace discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexual orientation. This lack of data and knowledge also made it impossible to find out whether the perpetrators of this kind of discrimination and mobbing are employers or other employees.

The aim of the Report on the status of LGBT persons in workplaces in BiH is to present the legal framework of BiH which offers protection from workplace discrimination and mobbing to LGBT persons, through international, European and national mechanisms.

You can download the report in B/C/S languages: Izvještaj o položaju LGBT osoba na radnom mjestu u Bosni i Hercegovini .