Project NETWORK - unity, support, mutual aid

The project Network, a joint initiative of the German organization Connect Plus and Ukrainian Informational Center for Lesbian and Gay Rights Nash Mir (Our World), was launched in June.

The problem, which the project attempts to address, can be summed up as follows: MSM (men who have sex with men) are frequently reluctant to reveal their sexual orientation to medical personnel, psychologists and other specialists fearing maltreatment due to intolerant attitudes toward homosexuals. As a result, MSM cannot receive qualified aid or fail to seek access to it altogether.

To correct this the project aims at creating and developing a network of MSM-friendly specialists, to whom representatives of this group may be redirected. Besides, our other goal is to expand contacts within the gay community itself so as to spread information about possibilities of access to qualified aid.

Key to the project, a training seminar for representatives of gay community and specialists from Vinnitsa, Donetsk and Chernovtsy regions was held in Yalta on June 17th through 19th. Representatives from each of these regions already have some experience in engaging medical personnel, psychologists and lawyers in work to assist MSM. Thus, the training seminar mostly focused on exchanging information and sharing work experiences.

Topics covered during the training seminar included social status of MSM in the three regions participating in the project, stigmatization and discrimination of MSM and their effect on combating HIV/AIDS, access to MSM (outreach work), psychological and medical assistance, and human rights and advocacy. The participants took a keen interest in discussing the standards in providing services to MSM as well as learning about German experience of working with this social group, which was presented by the German colleagues.

The atmosphere of the training was utterly amicable despite the participants’ belonging to different professional groups. An overwhelming majority of participants evaluated the training seminar as “good” and “excellent” and critical remarks mostly concerned the length of the training (“the training should be a little longer - 5-6 days”), insufficiency of time for group work, and lack of motion activities. Of course lack of free time to enjoy the amenities of the summer Yalta was also pointed out.

More details about the idea behind the project Network can be found in the interview with Michael Krone, German coordinator. The article is published in the only Ukrainian gay magazine Odyn z nas (One of Us) and uploaded to the web site of the Center Nash Mir (Our World) at http://gay.org.ua/network/interview_june09.pdf

Text of interview in English >>>

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