On 21 and 22 July and on 29 and 30 July 2021, 28 police officers increased their knowledge about LGBTI groups and their skills on how to handle hate crimes affecting LGBTI people, thanks to two training courses organised by the regional EU-Council of Europe project on “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes”, with the contribution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the Ukrainian NGO Fulcrum.
The two training courses were based on the Council of Europe manual “Policing hate crimes against LGBTI people”, which has been recently adapted for Ukraine.
15 Police inspectors of different ranks from the Main Department of National Police from different regions took part in the first training course on 21 and 22 July and 13 investigators and senior investigators of different ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department of National Police from different regions took part in the second training on 29 and 30 July. The training courses aimed at providing participants with the necessary skills to detect, classify and investigate hate crimes against LGBTI people to ensure the legal protection of victims and to apply the national legislation on hate crimes, as well as international human rights standards.
Participants highly appreciated the training, which clarified for them first and foremost the terminology and the issues that LGBTI people face in Ukraine, as well as their practical skills when handling hate crimes.
Another training course for patrol police is scheduled for autumn 2021.
These activities are organised in the framework of the project “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Eastern Partnership”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.
