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Despite state commitments to uphold human rights, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM), along with transgender people (TP) still face stigma and discrimination. This article presents an analysis of rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and HIV reported in 2022 across six countries, highlighting features and their links to legislation and law enforcement practices.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We examined documented cases of rights violations among gbMSM and TP in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine in 2022 using the REAct system, a tool for documenting and responding to rights violations against key populations. Initially, we employed directed content analysis based on Yogyakarta Principles to analyse narratives of violations. A codebook was developed through contextual, manifest and latent coding, with themes, categories and codes converted into quantitative variables for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the characteristics of violations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 456 cases of rights violations related to SOGI and HIV were documented, ranging from 22 cases in Tajikistan to 217 in Ukraine. Most violations concerned gbMSM (76.5%), with one\u2010fifth involving TP, predominantly transgender women. Complex violations with multiple perpetrators or infringements were documented in Armenia and central Asia. Privacy rights were commonly violated, often through outing. Cases of violations of the right to the highest attainable standard of health (13.6%) and protection from medical abuses (2.6%) were also documented. Other rights violations were sporadic, with each country exhibiting distinct patterns of violated rights and types of violations. In Ukraine, the full\u2010scale war in 2022 influenced the nature of documented cases, reflecting the challenges faced by gbMSM and TP.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Monitoring rights violations proved effective for assessing the situation of gbMSM and TP, particularly in the insufficiently studied and diverse eastern Europe, Caucasus and central Asia regions. As rights violations are linked to both legislation and law enforcement practices, comprehensive interventions to minimize structural and interpersonal stigma are essential.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.26311","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,19]],"date-time":"2024-07-19T08:15:00Z","timestamp":1721376900000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Being yourself is a defect: analysis of documented rights violations related to sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV in 2022 using the REAct system in six eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian countries"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7452-3889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oksana","family":"Kovtun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Alliance for Public Health  Kyiv Ukraine"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elvira","family":"Tilek kyzy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eurasian Coalition on Health Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity  Tallinn Estonia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nadira","family":"Masiumova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eurasian Coalition on Health Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity  Tallinn Estonia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","volume-title":"Prevailing against pandemics by putting people at the centre \u2014 World AIDS Days report 2020","year":"2020"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","volume-title":"Political declaration on HIV and AIDS: ending inequalities and getting back on track to end AIDS by 2030","year":"2021"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","volume-title":"The Path that Ends AIDS: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2023","year":"2023"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","volume-title":"IN DANGER: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022","year":"2022"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijid.2020.12.068"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/QAI.0000000000001087"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.drugalcdep.2013.06.031"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","volume-title":"Born free and equal: sexual orientation and gender identity in International Human Rights Law","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","volume-title":"LGBT inclusion and the Sustainable Development Goals","year":"2016"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0038143"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0004997"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10461\u2010007\u20109319\u20103"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/amp0000068"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10461\u2010023\u201004182\u20101"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0028760"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889\u2010023\u201015856\u20109"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/QAD.0000000000000724"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15532739.2015.1081085"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0022146514521215"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889\u2010018\u20105861\u20103"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12981\u2010023\u201000585\u20101"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_23_1","volume-title":"The Oxford Handbook of Global LGBT and Sexual Diversity Politics [Internet]","author":"Wilkinson C.","year":"2020"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_24_1","unstructured":"GuzO FedorovychI.Analysis of national legislation related to LGBT and HIV rights in 12 CEECA countries.Eurasian Coalition on Health Rights Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM);2023."},{"key":"e_1_2_10_25_1","unstructured":"Country Ranking: ILGA\u2010Europe. 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