Malta Ranks No.1 in European LGBT rights rankings for 7th time in a row
For the seventh consecutive year, Malta has retained its first place among 49 European countries in the Rainbow Map Index – an annual review of the human rights situation of LGBTI people in the continent.
In the review, carried out by the European section of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe), Malta earned a score of more than 92 per cent, having scored a high percentage when it comes to laws and policies concerning family rights, the legal recognition of gender, and stronger penalties in cases of hate crime and hate speech.
Occupying second place is Denmark, having jumped seven places with a score of 74 points. According to the index, its improvement was mainly fuelled by the amendments to its hate crime and equal treatment legislations. Belgium follows Denmark in third place with a score of 72 per cent.
The three countries at the other end of the Rainbow Europe scale are Azerbaijan, with a score of 2 per cent, Turkey, at 4 per cent, and Armenia, at 8 per cent. All three countries have held the same spot in the last two years.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has seen a dramatic drop in its score, losing 11 percentage points in relation to the equality body mandate’s ineffective and non-systematic work on sexual orientation and gender identity and equality action plan not being renewed or implemented.
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