Sphere Foundation Activity Report 2022

Direct assistance for queer people

Psychological Service

In 2022, the psychological service conducted 799 psychological consultations: 731 online and 68 offline.

We have assisted 141 women, 98 men, and 36 transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people. Of these, 34 people were at high suicidal risk.

In 2022, we have introduced the possibility of getting a consultation offline in a number of cities.

Whereas at the beginning of 2022 the psychological service’s main goal was to increase the number of volunteers ready to provide free psychological consultations and to study the impact of queer-phobic policies and orientation-based persecution of people in the North Caucasus region on the quality of life of LGBT+ people in Russia – later we saw the need to qualitatively reform our work, and change the direction of our changemaking activities:

We decided to provide emergency assistance training for the counseling psychologists as a matter of urgency.

The war engendered the new demands for treatment of panic attacks (as well as other types of anxiety disorders and conditions), acute depressive episodes and high risk of suicide. Many people indicated they were at risk not only because of military drafts (as they did not want to go to war), but also due to their attempts to flee (social inequality was noted: as a result of discrimination and stigmatization, LGBT+ people in Russia, on average, have less access to well-paid jobs, and, consequently, fewer opportunities to earn a living in case of forced migration). As a response, we have introduced additional team training and integrated extra supervision by the experts to provide both methodological and emotional support to our consultants.

After the new law on ‘LGBT + propaganda’ was adopted, we decided to change the goals and target audience of the psychological conference held by the Foundation: from outreach and education for the general public to addressing the most relevant group– school psychologists.

We have provided them with a unique opportunity space to discuss the risks of working with adolescents in the context of gender and orientation and begin developing action frameworks to address the pressure of the school administration.

The Psychological Service has conducted a study to identify the attitude of LGBT+ people towards the persecution of queer people in the Chechen Republic.

To achieve this goal we:

As an advanced training for our psychological service specialists, we facilitated the course on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

The cycle of ACT classes is intended for psychologists and psychotherapists, practicing or beginning their practices, who want to master the basics of working in ACT.

The psychological service team working with LGBT+ people was supervisioned monthly.

This made it possible to analyze complex cases promptly and provide assistance in a safer and more efficient way.

Hotline*

*The Hotline was created and developed by the Sphere team under the brand of the Russian LGBT Network. We maintained the Hotline until January 2023, and then handed it over to the Russian LGBT Network.

In 2022, the Sphere Foundation retained to provide free psychological assistance to LGBT+ individuals via the Hotline, which included an online chat and phone helpline. Specially trained professional psychologists worked there to offer free psychological support for LGBT+ people.

Legal assistance

In 2022, two lawyers joined the legal assistance program, bringing the total number of specialists to 20.

After February 24, 2022, the number of requests sharply increased. The majority of requests came in March – back then the lawyers provided 144 consultations. In the following months, the number of requests gradually decreased, particularly during the summer months, and returned to its average value of about 40 requests per month.

Since the start of military drafts in Russia in September, the number of applications has begun to increase once again. The main requests are related to the possibility of emigration, receiving a deferment from army draft, obtaining a military ID, and marriage registration. At the same time, the number of other requests, such as those related to harassment or physical violence, has slightly decreased.

In 2022, we started surveying individuals seeking legal assistance to assess the quality of the counseling service provided.

Approximately a quarter of all applicants filled out the questionnaire. The results of the survey were positive: over 47% were completely satisfied with the quality of the advice provided, and only 18% were dissatisfied.

The questionnaire allows individuals to view the number of their appeals in the system, as well as the entire history of the lawyer’s work and answers to the manager. Difficult cases are discussed individually, which helps to avoid conflict situations.

Emergency Assistance

In 2022, the Emergency Assistance program, which Sphere has founded and coordinated since 2017, was reorganized into two independent entities: the NC SOS Crisis Group (formerly the Department for North Caucasus) and the Egida project (formerly the project for emergency assistance in the regions of Russian Federation).

In November 2022, Emergency Assistance was relaunched as a comprehensive set of social information services aimed at supporting queer people subject to SOGI-based persecution in Russia because of tightening anti-LGBT+ laws.

The program’s main activities are directed on providing assistance in relocation, including payment of transportation costs and temporary housing rentals. This service is provided in situations involving direct risk and/or persecution of the applicant based on their SOGI. We also provide assistance to activists and human rights advocates who work with the LGBT+ agenda and/or identify as queer people.

The individuals whose requests were approved had faced harassment by the state/public, not only because of their SOGI, but also because of their anti-war views. Some of the applicants had been victims of domestic violence and bullying.

To satisfy the requests, we provided the following services: assistance with the evacuation or relocation of the applicants (covering transportation costs and temporary housing fees), providing social support (purchasing medicines, including HRT medications, and food, as well as payment for mobile phone and internet), helping with paperwork (legal consultations, paying governmental fees and other related costs).

Strategic Programs

On communications and donations