A3M has colour-coded the regions according to travel risk, with dark green signifying “totally problem-free”, followed by green, amber, red and crimson for “risk of extreme punishment”
Travelling abroad can be unsettling for LGBTQ+ individuals in some countries. In many parts around the globe, including the most populous countries on every continent, travellers risk discrimination and punishment, including public flogging and the death penalty.
These findings were presented by Marcel Conrad, Chief Content Officer with the Hamburg-based travel risk analyst A3M at ITB Berlin.
According to the A3M survey, among the safest countries are Canada, and in Europe the Benelux countries, Spain, Portugal and Denmark. Despite no laws discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community in Germany, it does not rank among the 10 safest countries, but is still in the second-best category.
A3M has colour-coded the regions according to travel risk, with dark green signifying “totally problem-free”, followed by green, amber, red and crimson for “risk of extreme punishment”. The categories between amber to crimson apply in 170 out of almost 200 countries.
According to Conrad, 76 countries have discriminatory laws. That end of the scale is occupied by almost every country in North Africa and large parts of the Middle East, as well as Russia and Malaysia. In Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia and northern Nigeria, LGBTQ+ people risk long jail sentences and severe corporal punishment including the death penalty.
The statement adds that numerous island nations particularly in the Caribbean, as well as Singapore, Mauritius, Andorra and Slovenia offer a silver lining. Discriminatory laws had been revoked in these countries last year, improving the situation there. However, they were still all listed in the “amber” category, he added.
A3M says that a variety of factors play a role in the risk classification of countries and regions. Entry and exit, transport, strike, infrastructure, health, natural hazards and the environment, security, economic security and special risks such as cultural characteristics, LGBTQ, female travellers, criminal law characteristics and other risks have all been considered for evaluation.
