By J. Andrew Baker | Fundraising and MEL Manager
A Recognised Global Resource
In June 2025, the ILGA World Database was selected as GlobalGiving’s Project of the Month, underscoring its role as the world’s most comprehensive open data resource on SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics) laws and policies.
Across 193 UN Member States and 47 non-UN jurisdictions, the Database continues to empower human-rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and decision-makers with reliable, verified legal information.
Building the Evidence Base: New Data on Bullying Laws
ILGA World published Bullying Laws: Protecting LGBTI Youth, the first-ever global analysis of how national education laws address school bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
The ILGA World Database’s new “School Bullying” dataset (database.ilga.org/school-bullying-lgbti) reveals that only 6 countries worldwide explicitly protect LGBTI students in school settings regarding the prevention of bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). At least one of these grounds, however, is explicitly mentioned in national-level laws in at least 40 UN member States. Still, this is only one-fifth of the world.
This research (cited by UNICEF, UNESCO, and multiple media outlets) has become an evidence base for policy reform and teacher-training initiatives worldwide.
Behind the Data: How We Work
The ILGA World Database is constantly updated through a rigorous research process supported by the Automated Source Processing Unit (ASPU), which monitors hundreds of global sources in multiple languages every day. Between December 2024 and June 2025, more than 90,000 data points were processed, including 4,400 entries reviewed by researchers and legal editors, exceeding all UNDP funding targets for data quality and volume.
Each legal development is reviewed, fact-checked, and summarised by ILGA’s research team in both English and Spanish, ensuring that every entry is accurate, accessible, and gender-sensitive.
In July, the team focused on proofreading and expanding entries for the new “Bullying” section, while continuing to update the Laws on Us and Our Identities Under Arrest reports. ILGA also collaborated with HURIDOCS to improve search functionality and data validation tools.
Global Recognition and Reach
A review by the Geneva Academy praised the ILGA World Database as a “powerful tracking tool for human rights advocacy,” acknowledging its impact in making complex legal information usable for civil society worldwide (Geneva Academy Listing).
By mid-2025, the Database had been cited in 247 academic and media sources, including policy briefs and UN submissions.
Turning Knowledge into Action
In Asia, the Database helped activists compile country legal profiles that formed the basis of national advocacy plans to challenge discriminatory laws.
Elsewhere, legal aid organisations used database entries to support asylum claims and inform parliamentary debates on anti-discrimination reforms.
Each of these outcomes demonstrates how open data can translate into tangible rights protection.
Why Your Support Matters
Your donations keep the Database accurate and free, funding its daily updates, language expansion, and new interactive features. They ensure that grassroots activists in restrictive contexts have the same credible information as their peers in global capitals.
By backing this project, you are not just funding data — you are strengthening the infrastructure of global equality.
Explore the Database: ilga.org/database
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