On September 26, 2025, a training was held in Kharkiv for prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, and human rights defenders on advancing victim-centered justice approaches and building cases on crimes committed against the LGBTQI+ community. This was the third training in a series conducted by the NGO “PROJECTOR” with support from the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”.
LGBTQI+ community representatives often face discrimination, which additionally complicates the investigation of crimes committed against them, especially if such crimes were committed in occupied territories.
“Ukraine is moving toward European integration and must fulfill many obligations to the European Union, we fully realize this. One of the obligations is ensuring full access to justice. Every victim must feel protection and support. We will continue to work toward realizing access to justice for all victims,” said Vitalii Matveiev, lawyer and Chairman of the Board of the NGO “PROJECTOR”, authorized representative of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office on accountability for gender-based crimes, during the opening of the event.
Anna Stakhanova, Chief Expert of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”, in turn, emphasized the importance of documenting international crimes.
“International crimes against LGBTQI+ and the sensitivity of interaction with community representatives in this area require special attention. Large-scale persecution in temporarily occupied territories can be qualified as crimes against humanity, and we must develop methodologies for effective work with victims and responses to their statements in order to ensure justice and accountability for committed crimes,” emphasized Anna Stakhanova.
During the training, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and civil society representatives worked on the topic of building cases on war and other international crimes committed against the LGBTQI+ community. They were assisted by highly qualified trainers: Mykola Pashkovskyi, senior researcher at the V.V. Stashys Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Crime Problems of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Legal Sciences; Karolina Palaichuk, lawyer, human rights defender, board member of the NGO “PROJECTOR”; and Vitalii Matveiev, lawyer and Chairman of the Board of the NGO “PROJECTOR”.
Training participants deepened their knowledge about SOGI, learned how the LGBT abbreviation emerged, why gender does not always equal a person’s biological sex, what gender-based violence is, what specific features exist in documenting crimes against LGBTQI+ community representatives for international judicial bodies, and much more. Special attention was paid to the possibilities of using open source information (OSINT) to increase the effectiveness of investigative actions.
The NGO “PROJECTOR”, with support from the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”, will continue to conduct similar trainings. Trainings have already been held in Odesa and Mykolaiv. They are also planned in other cities of Ukraine. Follow announcements on the organization’s website and social media.
This publication was prepared by the NGO “PROJECTOR” within the framework of a grant provided by the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”, implemented by Expertise France. Its content is the sole responsibility of the NGO “PROJECTOR” and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union.