LGBTIQ+ leaders in Guatemala supported by UK project
Community leaders and departmental partners in Guatemala received training on reporting, registering and documenting hate crimes and violence due to prejudice.
LAMBDA association implemented the project using the comprehensive model of support and follow-up for victims of violence due to prejudice, under the framework of the National LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Observatory.
UK funds supported the transfer of technical capacities and the implementation of the comprehensive support and follow-up model to LGBTIQ+ community leaders and departmental partners. Activities included working groups, training sessions, workshops and advocacy actions.
The training workshops dealt with investigation, attention, protection and litigation of cases of violence due to prejudice to municipality civil servants from Guatemala’s judiciary.
Some of the participating institutions were the Ministry of Health, Office of the Prosecutor, the Judiciary, the Criminal Public Defence Institute, the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office, the National Civil Police, the Penitentiary System and the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.
These activities allowed the institutions of the departments of Izabal, Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango and Sololá to have a better understanding of violence based on prejudice and to respond effectively. They also contributed to the creation of a strategic plan for the containment and prevention of hate crimes and violence in each department.
During the event, the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people were shared in the context of their communities, in which factors such as discrimination, machismo, rurality and the absence of the State come together. The importance of having a registry was also highlighted, to generate data that explains realities and contexts that contribute to the creation of public policies and advocacy actions.
The training of community leaders on registration and documentation of violence can, through data and statistics, report with evidence to government institutions the violation of human rights that the LGBTIQ+ community lives on a daily basis.
The British Ambassador in Guatemala, Nick Whittingham, said:
LGBT+ rights are human rights. The UK is committed to defending these rights internationally and supporting those who defend them. It is very gratifying to see the collaboration of government entities in this type of initiatives, which will make Guatemalan society stronger, safer and more prosperous.