About the Project
Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:56

The project is proposed as a three-year project. Currently, the situation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trangender (LGBT) people is very difficult, with many legal and social challenges to experiencing true equality and tolerance. Therefore this proposal has been drafted to take a long-term legal approach to the solution.

The project's main goals are to:

  • Increase tolerance in Polish society and reduce discrimination against LGBT people
  • Building the capacity of NGO’s working on this issue by lending its expertise in the field of legal monitoring
  • Reducing violations of human rights by State actors by improving legislation
  • Supporting victims of human rights violations through monitoring the incidents of hate crimes and offering legal advice

To achieve these goals we have four broad areas of activity.
  1. Monitoring which will monitor all Polish press for material concerning LGBT issues. These materials will be archived in the KPH library. Legislation will also be monitored to be up-to-date and any new proposals which would deal with LGBT issues.
  2. Litigation will encompass a legal counseling clinic for victims of discrimination and hate crimes. Apart from the legal advice given to the victims, the legal team will chose one case a year to use as a precedence case to litigate in collaboration with pro bono lawyers. An advisory board, made up of prominent experts in the field of human rights will be intimately involved in choosing and litigating these cases.
  3. Legislative reform and lobbying will be carried out by the legal team and advisory board. Upcoming legislation and existing laws will be scrutinized and we will offer our opinions on how to improve them to uphold standards of human rights and non-discrimination. Intensive lobbying will then be done both domestically and internationally with the help of our monitoring data and legal opinions.
  4. Publications will be produced both electronically and in print. A quarterly bulletin will be widely-distributed and will contain the most pressing issues which arose from the monitoring in the months prior as well as some legal analysis. Furthermore, an annual report will be published which will contain the findings of the monitoring, an expanded chapter on a particular issue of importance and a chapter with a legal analysis of the situation of LGBT rights.
An Advisory Board will be composed of 6-8 members who will meet regularly throughout the year in order to advise on a plan of action and submit to our publications. A legal team will be composed of a head and two members. There will be a project coordinator and an office manager. The project envisages working closely with many stakeholders in human rights; both governmental and non-governmental, domestic and international.

The outcomes of the project will include:
  • An increase in the professionalism of legal advice given to victims of discrimination who come to KPH for assistance
  • An increase in the number of those who seek advice from KPH. With more visibility, we hope to have between 200-300 people come to us for advice a year
  • Litigating at least one case per year which would serve as a precedence in the field of anti-discrimination
  • An increase in the reform of laws which impact on LGBT rights in Poland to comply with international standards of human rights
  • An increase of publications and resources for those who work in the legal structure, such as judges, prosecutors, lawyers and students. These publications will serve to inform them of accurate and appropriate information regarding the LGBT minority in Poland.