Funder: European Research Executive Agency 

Increasing numbers of states are responding to anti-LGBTI hate crimes by imposing harsher penalties. In Europe, some Southeast and East European countries with poor records in LGBTI equality are introducing such laws. However, most of them cannot evidence the active use of these laws to prosecute hate crimes, raising questions about their commitment and the factors behind the adoption of these laws.

The introduction of anti-LGBTI hate crime laws in some countries follows increasing attention paid to the issue at the international level and coincides with the process of EU integration. It is unclear, however, what role, if any, international bodies play in strengthening national responses to hate crime.

This socio-legal research project will use an innovative methodology combining interviews enhanced by diagrams as stimuli and policy document analysis to develop a transferable model explaining how, when, and why SEE states address anti-LGBTI hate crime. The project will focus on two national case studies of Georgia and North Macedonia, both of whom share the recent introduction of anti-LGBTI hate crime laws but differ in the degree of enforcement.

Drawing on social movement studies and theories of Europeanisation, this research addresses a global policy problem and gaps in scholarship, deepening our understanding of how, when, and why states address anti-LGBTI violence.

The project ENTER is implemented at Université Libre de Bruxelles under the supervision of Dr David Paternotte.