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The reason for the survey, which was conducted jointly by the Alliance of Gender Equality Officers of non-university research organisations (AGbaF) and the Federal Conference of Gender Equality Officers at Universities (bukof), was both the alarming findings about the increase in structural discrimination against female scientists and their own impressions of the working environment in spring this year. The survey, launched in May 2020, was intended to validate the observations and to concretize the problems and the corresponding need for gender-sensitive action.

381 Gender Equality Officers received a short questionnaire to assess the situation with regard to the increase in structural disadvantages for women in scientific contexts in times of Corona and the resulting challenges for gender equality work. The response rate was 55% with 210 completed questionnaires. 18 universities, 13 universities of applied sciences, 6 universities of the arts and 173 research institutes (Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Society, Leibniz Association, Helmholtz Association) participated.

The main focus of the current discussions on what causes refugees to leave their homeland is put on military or economic crises and emergency situations. However, asylum seekers also include people who are persecuted in their countries of origin due to their sexual orientation or their gender identity.The present expertise examines the EU's legislative developments for the recognition of the refugee status of persecuted lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) and analyses the most important problems by which they are confronted at their arrival in Europe.

The European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe), an umbrella organisation with a total of 422 member organisations in 45 European countries, is involved politically with the legal and social situation of LGBTI people in Europe. In co-operation with its member organisations, ILGA-Europe publishes Rainbow Europe, an annual index which evaluates the legal position of LGBTI people in European states. With regard to EU Member States, the following information can be gleaned from the index:
1.The legal position of LGBTI people and its development are very heterogeneous within the EU Member States.
2.The EU currently does not play any effective role in structuring LGBTI policy.
3.In spite of progress in Germany since the beginning of the 2000s, progress in LGBTI legislation has stagnated in past years.
4.In comparison with other EU Member States, Germany needs to improve its LGBTI policies.

The first section of the present study will evaluate the overall results of the last issues of the index. The central question here is: how does the legal position of LGBTI people in Germany compare with the situation in other EU states? Then, based on this knowledge, the second section will discuss the following central problem areas:

What role does the EU play in improving the social and legal situation of LGBTI people, and what areas of LGBTI policy require improvement in EU law?
What relevant measures are in place in EU Member States other than Germany for the improvement of the legal position of LGBTI people?

Based on three of the six main areas of the index (equality and non-discrimination, acknowledgement of the family and hate crime and hate speech) the index identifies legal and political measures of LGBTI policy that are not yet applied in Germany in contrast to other EU Member States. As improving LGBTI rights in EU Member States depends not only on legislative decisions of national governments but also on EU law, LGBTI rights at EU level will also be examined.

This paper by the Observatory for Sociopolitical Developments in Europe reviews the state of development of LGBTI policies in Europe on the basis of the Rainbow Europe information package.The purpose of the paper is to highlight sociopolitical measures in European countries which, in view of the situation in Germany, may be of interest to the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth [BMFSFJ], and to identify relevant trends and developments in LGBTI policies at European and international level.