DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SEXUAL MINORITIES IN EDUCATION AND HOUSING: EVIDENCE FROM TWO FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN SERBIA

# **Background and Study Objectives**

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people are often victims of violence, inequality, and discrimination. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity (SOGI), and sex characteristics has wide‐ranging effects on LGBTI people and the societies they live in. When access to markets, services, and spaces becomes more constrained, jobs are harder to find; education and health services are limited; and political and public engagement is riskier. The effects of discrimination push many LGBTI people into poverty, and it is, therefore, likely that they are overrepresented among the poor.<sup>i</sup> Collecting data on the experiences of LGBTI people is challenging, and, as a result, robust data that quantifies and details the effects of discrimination is missing in most countries, including Serbia. This is primarily because many LGBTI people, especially but not only those who live in developing countries or in countries where discrimination is prevalent, choose to stay under the radar. They hide their LGBTI identity out of fear: fear of rejection and exclusion; fear of harassment; fear of discrimination; and fear of physical violence. Therefore, knowledge about the lived experiences of LGBTI people is limited, especially in contexts where discrimination and exclusion are prevalent. In Serbia, like in many other developing countries, reliable and robust data on the social and economic challenges LGBTI people face is not available, making policy interventions difficult. The World Bank is committed to helping to address this evidence gap by undertaking research and collecting rigorous data. Gathering data on the challenges LGBTI people face is an important first step towards developing sustainable solutions that respond to their challenges and needs.

This report is part of a broader World Bank research initiative: “Understanding the Socio‐ Economic Dimensions of LGBTI Exclusion in the Western Balkans.” In addition to this report, two large‐scale surveys (reports forthcoming) were conducted, reaching over 5,500 LGBTI people in the region.

1. The first survey adapts the 2012 European Union Fundamental Rights Agency’s _Survey of LGBT people in the EU and Croatia_<sup>ii</sup> and applies that methodology in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. That adaptation enables generalizable comparisons of the experiences of LGBTI people in the EU Member States with those of LGBTI people in the Western Balkans.

2. The second survey adapts Serbia’s general welfare survey, the _Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC),_ to LGBTI people in Serbia. The adaptation enables the income distribution and social inclusion of LGBTI people to be compared to that of the general population in Serbia.

The current report complements the SILC survey by providing additional qualitative data about the challenges LGBTI people face in two key areas of life: education and housing. Cumulatively, these studies form one of the largest LGBTI data sets outside of the OECD countries. The multifaceted nature of the research initiative helps to better understand the development outcomes for LGBTI people as individuals, in the economy, and in society.

Experimental studies have provided important insights into discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, and religious affiliation. These studies have covered a wide range of areas such as 1