SWAN, ECOM, EHRA and EWNA have produced a joint synthesis report on intersecting issues, identities and barriers in accessing health care, HIV services, sexual and reproductive health and rights among key populations in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The report examines the experiences of LGBT people, people who use drugs, sex workers and people living with HIV in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Drawing on extensive research and community feedback, it provides findings and practical recommendations to address stigma, discrimination and structural inequalities affecting these groups.
The authors of the report conducted a joint consultation to gather information and assess how intersecting identities can impact people’s lives, their access to health services and their agency in the context of structural inequality, social injustice, violence, stigma and discrimination. “Intersectionality” in this context means belonging to two or more such groups at the same time.
“Intersectionality is a concept that allows us to assess and take into account multiple levels of discrimination against an individual, group of people, or social issue,” the authors of the document emphasized. “ Within this concept, people’s intersecting identities and experiences allow us to understand the complexity of the stigma, prejudice, marginalization, and/or criminalization that they face.”