Regional human rights organization ECOM has published its annual report on violations of LGBT people’s rights in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) in 2025. The document covers seven countries in the region: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.
The authors of the report, titled “Between Law and Reality: Report on Human Rights Violations against LGBT People in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2025” conclude that violations of LGBT people’s rights in the region have become systemic in nature. Documented cases of violence, interference in private life, extortion, and discrimination in employment, education, healthcare, and access to services rarely occur in isolation — they most often form chains of violations that increase the vulnerability of those affected.
Threats come from both state institutions and private individuals. Among the perpetrators are law enforcement officers, migration service officials, and medical staff, as well as sexual partners, family members, employers, neighbors, and service industry workers. This broad range of violators points to the persistent vulnerability of LGBT people and the limited effectiveness of protection mechanisms at both the governmental and societal levels.
The report aims to provide a systemic analysis of documented human rights violations against LGBT people in the region and to identify the key mechanisms sustaining them.
The report was prepared by ECOM as part of the regional project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” with financial support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Read the full report: Between Law and Reality: Report on Human Rights Violations against LGBT People in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2025