A new protocol will coordinate the action of the LGBTI Centre, the Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) at the City Council and the OCH
The LGTBI Centre, the Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) at the City Council and the Observatory against Homophobia (OCH) are boosting their coordination under a new protocol that will enable them to improve their actions against discrimination and LGTBI-phobia. The mechanism will be open to bringing on board other organisations working to detect, assist and accompany people who have fallen victim to LGBTI-phobia.
The goal is to coordinate the city’s various players and procedures, public and private alike, to take on discrimination and situations of LGBTI-phobia. That document provides details on the procedure that has to be followed for dealing with detected situations of discrimination or violation of human rights on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression between the municipal services and associations, such as the Observatory against Homophobia (OCH), that are active in detecting, assisting and accompanying victims of such rights violations. So, the aim is to coordinate assistance, accompaniment, analysis and advice so that a recent or past victim of LGBTI-phobic discrimination or assault in Barcelona can overcome abuse or violence and make good the personal, employment, family and social harm and consequences they have experiences, boosting networking, coordination and synergies between various services and social organisations.
Action procedures and processes
The Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) is a benchmark municipal service for dealing with situations of discrimination, including LGBTI-phobic discrimination, in collaboration with the services and associations of civic society involved. It offers legal advice, socio-educational accompaniment and, where appropriate, mediation. It is positioned, under this new protocol, as the body responsible for information records and communication with other institutions and authorities.
For its part, the LGBTI Centre acts as an important detection and referral channel. As for LGBTI-phobia cases, it provides complementary accompaniment and counselling to the legal, socio-educational and mediatory assistance given by the OND as legal advice specialising in this field.
As regards the associations, they carry out crucial work not just on incidents and awareness-raising but also in assisting and accompanying people who fall victim to discrimination. The Observatory against Homophobia in particular is the social organisation specialising in dealing with discrimination and LGBTI-phobia. It offers accompaniment and counselling, legal representation and public outreach.
The protocol provides for the creation of a Coordination Board, made up, in principle, of the Office for Non-Discrimination, the LGBTI Centre and the Observatory against Homophobia, which will be open to other organisations involved in detecting and monitoring cases of LGBTI-phobia. Work will be carried out here to provide every mechanism for implementing initiatives that give people all the necessary support, putting their needs at the centre of the response.
Action procedures provided for under the protocol
Detection or discovery by a municipal service, or other organisation, of a case of assault will trigger the following procedures:
- In the event of a high-risk or emergency situation, the necessary emergency resources will be mobilised, medical ones above all, from the very start. Other resources may also be required, such as security-related ones (Guàrdia Urbana [city police] and Mossos d’Esquadra [regional police]) and social ones (CUESB).
- Once the emergency services are activated, if necessary, and so long as this is what the person concerned wants, an assessment will be made of the player of that protocol that has to be mobilised according to the specific situation and needs.