Malta Is the Safest Destination for Travellers From LGBTQI+ Community, Survey Shows
Such conclusions have been reached through the recent survey conducted by the Merchant Machine, which is a UK-based information and comparison website, AtoZSerwisPlus.mt reports.
The Merchant Machine survey analyzed metrics, including the level of protection against LGBTQI+ hate crimes as well as speech and gay marriage laws. Besides, the survey also looked at crime statistics generally, also taking into account robbery rates, crime indexes as well as the peacefulness of each territory according to the Global Peace Index, according to a report published by Lovin Malta.
Based on all the metrics mentioned above, Malta was considered the safest country for holidaymakers from the LGBTQI+ community, scoring a safety index of 369 and a robbery rate of 47, which is the second lowest of all counties participating in the survey.
In addition, the country’s travel security risk rating was 1, considered as low, on a scale ranging from zero to four. According to the survey, a country with a low-risk rating was deemed politically and socially stable, with few prominent security concerns as well as low levels of non-violent crime.
In contrast, the survey showed that Russia had been considered the most dangerous destination for LGBTQI+ travelers due to its anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination policy, the prevalence of LGBTQI+ hate crime and speech as well as lack of marriage equality.
Russia has been followed by Turkey, Mexico, as well as South Korea, in terms of the most dangerous destinations for LGBTQI+ community travellers.
In a survey conducted last May by the LGBT lobby group ILGA, Malta was ranked in the first position for LGBT community rights for the seventh consecutive year, with an overall score of 92 per cent across seven key zones.
Malta made significant progress in terms of LGBT community rights, including the introduction of civil unions, adoption as well as cohabitation rights for same-sex couples, inclusive education as well as some of the most advanced policies regarding gender expression in the world.
The survey of Merchant Machine based on a study on 38 countries by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked every country across several categories, including community travel safety, hate crime and speech of laws, rights to marry, robbery, travel security risk, crime rates, as well as general peacefulness.
In addition, the entity is known to engage in a large number of campaigns, most notably on the Rise of Gen Z businesses.
