Rainbow Association in Moscow fights against all forms of social discrimination and aims to protect human rights and to contribute to a positive image of the LGBT community in society.
The LGBTI community in Russia is deeply affected by discrimination in the workplace. According to a quantitative survey held by the Russian LGBT Network, 32% of respondents faced this type of discrimination. LGBTI people are not inclined to turn to trade unions when experiencing discrimination, because these unions are neither familiar with these issues nor have sufficient knowledge and skills.
In order to try to change this, Rainbow Association held a conference, bringing together LGBT organizations, trade union leaders, and human rights organizations.
The main goal of this conference was to set up a coordination mechanism between NGOs, trade unions and initiatives groups which protect the labor rights of vulnerable social groups.
It allowed the opportunity to exchange views in the field of anti-discrimination work, expand cooperation on the issues of combating discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The foundation was laid for a more structural kind of cooperation. Prior to the conference, there were only occasional meetings in the form of small round tables.
… excellent composition of the invited participants, the variety of initiatives presented, the opportunity to share experiences”.
Conference participant
Watch the welcome speech by Evelyne Paradise (executive director of ILGA-Europe):
Project results
- The Discrimination Rights of Vulnerable Groups in Labor Sphere conference was held on June 24th, 2017. It included 3 main topics:
- NGOs and defending rights in labor sphere;
- Trade unions and defending rights in labor sphere;
- Promoting inclusiveness and diversity in the workplace: the experience of employers.
- The conference was attended by 74 representatives of various organizations:
- 19 different LGBT organizations;
- 8 representatives from 7 different Russian trade unions;
- 10 independent NGOs that defend labor rights in Russia;
- 47 of them from 23 different NGOs and initiative groups.
- A total of 26 speakers and experts from 9 different regions (Moscow, Leningrad, Samarra, Krasnoyarsk, Ivanovo, Makhachkala, Kaliningrad, Voronezh, and Tomsk) held presentations and speeches at the conference.
- Discussions were held on behalf of various vulnerable groups like LGBT, Transgenders, hiv+ people, sex workers, and disabled people, with an emphasis on LGBT-related issues.
- 3 articles were published by independent news resources:
- Socialist News
- Serebryana Roza on the Minus Virus Platform
- Website EECAAC2018 (Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference)
