On 12 and 14 March 2025, two significant events on combating discrimination and protecting the rights of the LGBTI community in Ukraine took place in Kyiv, involving state and non-state institutions. The events were attended by Hallvard Gorseth, Head of the Anti-Discrimination Department of the Council of Europe's Directorate General for Democracy and Human Dignity, and Evgenia Giakoumopoulou,.
On 12 March, a roundtable discussion, "Harmonisation of Ukrainian legislation with European standards on equality and non-discrimination," brought together representatives from 17 civil society organisations working on LGBTI rights and anti-discrimination efforts in Ukraine. During the discussions, Evgenia Giakoumopoulou, Head of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Unit of the Council of Europe, presented the mandate of the organization in this respect and the underpinning standards. Civil society representatives had the opportunity to showcase their respective organisations' initiatives and present needs of the community. Key topics included advocacy over legislative reforms, to include SOGIESC as protected grounds in Ukraine’s anti-discrimination laws, notably by advancing on civil partnerships, hate crimes, and hate speech.
The 14 March discussions focused on the combat of hate crimes and their monitoring in Ukraine. The event was co-organised with Gender Stream, a civil society organisation advocating for the Draft Law No. 5488, which seeks to criminalise hate crimes on all grounds, in line with Council of Europe recommendations from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance. ECRI noted the importance of a comprehensive framework to combat hate crime, covering all grounds of discrimination, including ethnicity, disability, skin colour, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Parliamentary representatives, including Olena Shuliak, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, and Maria Mezentseva, Deputy Chair of the Committee and Head of the Subcommittee on Approximation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law, expressed their support for aligning Ukraine’s legislation with European standards and underscored the necessity of implementing anti-discrimination measures and strengthening legal protections for marginalised communities.
The joint EU-Council of Europe project "Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine", continues to provide support for civil society initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of vulnerable groups and countering discrimination in Ukraine.
