Media Reporting and Reference Guide on LGBT Issues

The Ombudswoman for Gender Equality, whose responsibilities include gender minorities,
carries out the activities of an independent body responsible for combating discrimination
in the area of gender equality. Her responsibilities include gender minorities. Thus, in her
annual report for 2017, the Gender Equality Ombudswoman said that the State Attorney’s
Office reported only 3 criminal charges for a criminal offense of hate crime motivated by
prejudice based on sexual orientation. Of these, one case was only at the stage of the
inquest, one indictment was filed for a criminal offense of bodily injury, but there was no
qualification of a criminal offense as a hate crime (as stated in the criminal report) <strong>and</strong> in the
third case an indictment was filed for a hate motivated criminal act. If we compare this data
with recent research on LGBT violence (Ombudswoman for Gender Equality’s report, 2016;
2017), the ineffectiveness of the justice system becomes even more visible.
As far as discrimination is concerned, the Gender Equality Ombudswoman received only 3
reports in the field of labour <strong>and</strong> employment. If we compare this number with the “LGBTI
Workplace Equality” survey that showed that 75.1% of respondents experienced a certain
form of discrimination in the work environment due to their sexual orientation <strong>and</strong> / or
gender identity / expression (K-Zona 2017), it can be concluded that LGBT persons don’t
report discrimination out of fear of disclosing their identity or of secondary victimization, as
expressed during the research.
Regarding trans rights in Croatia, there is still no regulated subsidy system for certain
medical treatments <strong>and</strong> interventions, <strong>and</strong> therefore medical procedures for the purposes
of transition are not provided for free. Trans people also face harsh discrimination in the
issuing of second-degree certificates <strong>and</strong> diplomas, again due to the lack of regulations
that schools <strong>and</strong> universities would have to act upon, so the procedure depends on school/
university internal decisions. As far as the name itself is concerned, every person has the
right to change their name without any obstruction in the sense that a name is considered
“male” or “female”, no matter what gender is specified in the document. Every person can
change his/her name just by issuing a request, there are no other actions required. A minor
can change his/her name only with the approval of both parents (if they both have parental
rights).
Gender reassignment procedure is a long <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>ing process. Legal gender recognition
is governed by the Law on State Register <strong>and</strong> the Ordinance on the manner of collecting
medical documentation <strong>and</strong> establishing conditions <strong>and</strong> assumptions for gender
reassignment or life in another gender identity. According to the Ordinance, a person may
not be forced to undergo medical treatment, including surgical interventions, sterilization
or hormone therapy, as a prerequisite for recognition of gender reassignment or a life in
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