“World Bank Group. 2019. A Comparative Analysis of the Socioeconomic Dimensions of LGBTI Exclusion in Serbia. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/32395 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Executive Summary
1. The primary objective of this research was to provide Serbian policy makers, civil society, and development partners with evidence of the socioeconomic status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people in Serbia. The findings of the report, which were derived from a survey of LGBTI people, help to address the significant quantitative data gap on the lives of LGBTI people in Serbia and seek to inform policies and programs to address LGBTI exclusion. The survey was designed to collect and document evidence of the socioeconomic status of LGBTI people in Serbia rather than to explore policy or programming responses. However, the findings revealed that, going forward, certain areas warrant further investigation and greater attention from a policymaking perspective. These include: expanding the LGBTI evidence base; increasing LGBTI diversity in public sector employment; improving trust in government and institutions; and bolstering awareness and capacity to effectively address transgender issues
2. In addition to the above, the objective of the research was to test a survey methodology that addresses the persistent challenge of generating data that allow robust comparisons between the lives of LGBTI people and the general population. Such comparative data provide more valuable evidence about the unique challenges faced by LGBTI people by framing these challenges within the context of the experiences of the general population. The methodology and statistical analysis used here also offer a technique for other researchers interested in understanding the experience of LGBTI people compared to the population at large. The report presents the results of the survey and, where appropriate, attempts to contextualize the findings. However, where there is insufficient data and information to analyze and provide this contextualization, the report simply presents the results of the survey and does not attempt to explain the differences observed. Going forward, it would be beneficial to collect more data that allow in-depth analyses of the differences observed between LGBTI people and the general population.
3. This research adapted the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) instrument of the European Union (EU), a standardized household survey used regularly to collect data from the general Serbian population on income, poverty, social exclusion, and living conditions (“general SILC”). The SILC instrument was adapted to include questions on discrimination in the workplace, trust in political and legal institutions, and overall life satisfaction of LGBTI people in Serbia. Between February and April 2017, 998 self-identified LGBTI people answered the adapted “LGBTI SILC” online. 1 Online engagement was chosen to encourage a large number of people to participate privately and confidentially, which is a recognized strategy for reaching LGBTI people who may not otherwise be willing or feel safe in revealing their identity in face-to-face interviews. 2 The survey was disseminated using a network of local nongovernmental organizations in Serbia, and respondents were made aware of the survey through social networks, advertisements, and dating apps. The responses were weighted, and a sample matching procedure was conducted using a covariate balancing propensity score to allow a comparison between the two samples: the LGBTI SILC and responses from the Serbian population to the general SILC. The samples were matched on the basis of: age, sex assigned at birth, educational attainment, marital status, region, and area of residence (urban or rural). This generated, for the first time, a data set on the socioeconomic status of LGBTI persons that allows a comparison to Serbia’s general population.
4. This report is part of a broader World Bank research initiative, “Understanding the SocioEconomic Dimensions of LGBTI Exclusion in the Western Balkans.” In addition to this report, the initiative includes two “mystery shopper” experiments on access to primary school education and the private rental market in Serbia, 3 as well as a survey of the experiences of LGBTI people in seven countries across southeastern Europe.4 The multifaceted nature of the initiative has helped to develop a more rounded understanding of the development challenges of LGBTI people as individuals and as participants in the economy and society more broadly. Read the full report