In today’s digital age, freedom of expression on the Internet is a key element of a democratic society, allowing for broad participation and exchange of ideas. However, this freedom is often abused to spread hate speech and online violence, especially towards vulnerable social groups such as LGBTIQ+ persons. Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the challenges of insufficient protection of the LGBTIQ+ community from online violence and hate speech, which is further complicated by a fragmented, maladaptive and unclear legislative framework, including inadequate implementation of the above, as well as a lack of effective institutional responses.

This research seeks to provide a deeper understanding of this problem and to formulate guidelines for creating recommendations to relevant institutions with the aim of improving the protection and rights of LGBTIQ+ persons.

Author: Sanja Ramić
Editor: Azra Tabaković Kedić

The research on online violence and online hate speech against LGBTI persons in BiH arose out of the need to shed additional light on a phenomenon that, unfortunately, is common when discussing the position of LGBTI persons in BiH. Violence against LGBTI persons, and thus also that committed in the online space, continues to represent one of the most important challenges. Through the previously conducted research “Numbers that mean equality 3. – Analysis of the results of the research on the problems and needs of LGBTI+ persons in BiH in 2023”, it was clear that there was an increase in LGBTI+ persons who experienced violence from 25.5% in 2017 to 38.9% in 2023. At the same time, among LGBTI+ people who experienced violence, 41.34% were exposed to verbal and psychological violence, while 25.23% stated that they were victims of online threats and abuse. These results indicate that there are different forms of violence, with particular manifestations whose adequate treatment cannot be applied using a uniform approach.

The publication in front of you tries to shed additional light and answer the following questions related to the mentioned topic: On which online platforms do online violence and hate speech most often occur? Are the perpetrators known and close to the victims or anonymous? It determines what types of hate speech and online violence LGBTIQ+ people most often experience and to which entities they most often report. What are the relevant indicators that can serve as useful input in the formulation of further institutional and legal changes and the provision of protection and justice?

The research is the first to deal in detail with the mentioned problem from the point of view of LGBTI persons and as such is the basis for all future policies, research, texts, and advocacy activities in the field of online violence and hate speech against LGBTI persons.

Darko Panudrević, reviewer

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