According to the NGO, nine out of ten hate crimes targeting LGBTIQ persons go unpunished in Croatia, and the purpose of this platform is to encourage LGBTIQ persons and witnesses to report hate crimes.
Matea Kosovec, a member of the Zagreb Pride management board, cited a survey as showing that of 133 reported offences with elements of incitement to hatred, 97 concerned LGBTIQ as victims.
"Between 2014 and 2017, only eight cases of hate crime targeting LGBTIQ persons were recorded in Croatia, of which three qualified as disorderly conduct, and criminal charges were brought only in one case," activist Ana Urlic said, warning that these figures showed that such crimes were rarely reported and prosecuted.
The platform was presented on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which is observed on May 17.
The day was also marked by the LGBT Centre in Split, which presented the results of a survey conducted among 200 LGBT persons in Split-Dalmatia County in April. The survey found that about 20 percent of respondents were at least once subjected to physical violence, 55 percent to psychological violence, 60 percent to verbal violence, and about eight percent to social and economic violence.
Respondents said that they also experienced torture, restrictions of the freedom of movement, sexual abuse, and some were thrown out of their homes. They said that the most frequent perpetrators of physical and verbal violence were bystanders, co-workers and acquaintances, while the least violent were teachers and police officers.