On 16 March 2026, a training session for prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, and human rights defenders took place in Lviv, focusing on advancing victim-centered justice approaches and building cases on crimes committed against the LGBTQI+ community. This was the sixth training in a series organized by the NGO PROJECTOR within a grant provided by the EU Project “Pravo-Justice.”
The topic of the training was driven by real challenges faced by members of the LGBTQI+ community in Ukraine: cases of discrimination remain widespread, creating additional barriers to the effective investigation of crimes committed against representatives of this community. These difficulties are particularly acute when it comes to crimes committed in temporarily occupied territories, where access to justice is limited and victims are often afraid to seek help.
Vitalii Matvieiev, Chair of the Board of NGO PROJECTOR and a lawyer, addressed the participants: “The Ukrainian state is confidently moving toward European integration and therefore has specific obligations to the European Union, including measurable compliance criteria. This means the need for real changes in the justice sector, not just reforms on paper. Every victim of crime must feel that Ukraine hears and protects them. We are continuously working to ensure that access to justice, without exception, becomes available to all victims.”
During the training, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and civil society representatives worked on building cases related to war crimes and other international crimes committed against the LGBTQI+ community. The sessions were led by highly qualified trainers: Vadym Barskyi, Associate Professor at Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University and Candidate of Legal Sciences; Karolina Palaichuk, lawyer, human rights defender, and Board Member of NGO PROJECTOR; Mykola Pashkovskyi, Senior Research Fellow at the Academician V. V. Stashis Research Institute for the Study of Crime Problems of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Legal Sciences; and Vitalii Matvieiev, lawyer and Chair of the Board of NGO PROJECTOR.
Participants deepened their knowledge of SOGI, learned about the origins of the LGBT acronym, why gender does not always equal biological sex, what gender-based violence is, and the specific features of documenting crimes against LGBTQI+ persons for international judicial bodies, among other topics. Special attention was paid to the use of open-source intelligence (OSINT) to enhance the effectiveness of investigative actions.
This was the final training in the series delivered by NGO PROJECTOR with the support of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice.” Previous trainings were held in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Dnipro. A roundtable in Kyiv is currently planned to present the outcomes of all trainings and the methodological guide. Follow updates on social media and event announcements.
This publication was prepared by NGO PROJECTOR within a grant provided by the EU Project “Pravo-Justice,” implemented by Expertise France. Its content is the sole responsibility of NGO PROJECTOR and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.