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4.1.3.2.3 Community-oriented Research/Victimization Surveys
A report titled »Situation of Bisexual and Homosexual Persons in Poland« has been published every two years since 2002 as a joint initiative between the Campaign Against Homophobia and the Lambda Warsaw Association. The report’s major objective is to examine the situation of the LGBT community. Its central source of information stems from surveys conducted among homosexual and bisexual persons throughout the country. Questionnaires are distributed by members of LGBT organizations, mainly in larger cities, often in gay clubs and meeting places; some questionnaires are also filled out online. In the first part of the report, survey results are presented in the form of tables and graphic charts. The second part comprises a sociological analysis of society’s attitudes towards bisexual and homosexual people, containing articles that analyze various spheres of social life, such as politics, the legal system, education, media, Internet, health care, the Catholic Church as well as sports. (6)
The last issue encompassing the years 2005 and 2006 is much wider in scope in comparison to the previous ones. The Campaign Against Homophobia conducted the research entirely on its own. Approximately 15,000 questionnaires were distributed, of which over 1,000 completed questionnaires were collected. The questionnaire was slightly modified to gather more information: The analytical part was more extensive than in previous versions of the report. Marta Abramowicz, a representative from the Campaign Against Homophobia, emphasizes the political context of the report, in which the right-wing Law and Justice party had just come to power with the support with nationalist and right-wing populist parties (with whom they eventually formed a coalition):
»I think it is good that we summarized these two worst years for the lesbian and gay community in Poland. There was a big witch-hunt in the education system against teachers in schools. […] I know from varied sources that there is fear to talk about homosexuality, to organize lectures about it, to recognize homosexual persons in school. We noticed at some point that nobody wanted to go to the media. We had no problems with that before, but suddenly nobody wanted to appear in the media out of fear. We had many signals showing that the situation was worsening.«
The report shows that violence against homosexual people often takes place in families or peer groups. Youth who attend school are more likely to experience physical violence than adults who are more exposed to psychological violence in the workplace, where people gossip and create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Adults are normally confronted with different predicaments than students, such as getting chased, mobbed or ridiculed, which, besides being very objectionable, are hard to prosecute. Neighbors can also make for unpleasant encounters, when, for instance, somebody wants to borrow a hammer from a neighbor and is told that the neighbor does not lend anything to deviants. The report also shows that very few individuals report these occurrences to the police. This is a big setback for LGBT rights. Not reporting hate crimes to the police means that the gay and lesbian community remains largely ignored by official institutions and without information or statistics, it also prevents advocates from defending gay and lesbian interests. At the same time, the report serves as a source of discussion for politicians, journalists, members of Parliament and varied research institutions. It is available in the main libraries in Poland, and its English version was sent abroad. Abramowicz believes that »it will serve as a base for further research, political lobbying and for changing the law.« Currently, there are plans in the works to expand the survey to international research on homophobia. The project will be coordinated with the Berlin-based organization MANEO and the French organization S.O.S. Homophobie. The methodology from the Polish survey will serve as a basis for this international study.
6. Abramowicz, Marta 2007 (ed.). Sytuacja społeczna osób biseksualnych i homoseksualnych w Polsce: Raport za lata 2005 i 2006, Warsaw.
(OPP)
