The Observatory against LGBTIfobia of A Coruña is a service dedicated to listening, advising, recording and reporting LGTBIphobic incidents or hate crimes. Anonymity and free services are the basis of our work.
Another of our goals is that the service is offered to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We deal with numerous cases of people who want to know how to better support the LGTBI community.
According to a 2015 FRA study, 90% of hate crimes and incidents go unreported. This reveals two problems: on the one hand, the situation of helplessness for the victims; on the other hand, the lack of updated data on this subject.
The different observatories spread throughout the country, despite their scarce resources, try to make this discrimination visible and demand that the administrations implement policies to protect the LGTBI community.
Origins
This service was created at the end of 2017 as a response to several cases of bullying and the aggression suffered by a member of the association. Supported from the beginning by the City Council of A Coruña and managed by our association, it facilitates communication between the administrations and the victims.
The observatory is inspired by models such as the OCH or the Observatory against LGTBphobia in Madrid. Thanks to one of the volunteers becoming a member of ALAS A Coruña, we decided to start a similar project. Thus, our observatory was the first of its kind in Galicia and the northwest of the peninsula.
Results
On an annual basis, the observatory presents a report on its work and issues recommendations to improve the lives of LGTBI people. In this way, we give back to society, as this service is mainly financed by public funds. Therefore, we strongly believe in the continual transparency of what we do.
Networking
Furthermore, the Observatory against LGTBIfobia of A Coruña belongs to the state network of observatories, ‘Redes contra el odio’, coordinated by the FELGTBI+; where it shares its data at the national level.
