Activist and author Dina Bajrektarević, speaking to Mašina, discusses the findings of recent research, her personal experience, and the systemic inaction of the state that allows this violence against LGBTI people to persist.

---

A large number of people—primarily young people—have been subjected to conversion practices. The percentages are alarming, judging by the first study on conversion practices. They are alarming because they show that conversion practices continue to occur within systems that should be grounded in contemporary medical and ethical standards, as our interlocutor explains.

“The research has its methodological limitations, which means we will never have a complete picture of the extent to which these practices are carried out in official and semi-official institutions—especially given that they are often not openly named as ‘conversion’ practices, but presented as counseling, therapy, or ‘support,’” Bajrektarević told Mašina.

Although homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses long ago, transgender identity is still present in the current International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) under diagnosis F64—transsexualism. As she points out, this leaves room for pathologizing approaches, abuse, and the legitimization of practices that are not formally called “treatment.”

The data show that the most common contexts in which conversion practices occur are the family environment (85.6%), followed by educational institutions (45.9%) and informal circles of friends, communities, or collectives (44.2%). Psychological and psychiatric support services, as well as healthcare institutions, are cited at a significantly lower rate: specifically, 8.8% of respondents reported pressure in those contexts.

The concept of parental care is very often abused as a legitimizing framework for conversion practices

According to Bajrektarević, what is outwardly presented as “concern for the child” or a “desire to make their life easier” in practice amounts to control, conditionality, and punishment of identity.

“This abuse becomes particularly visible in situations where love, support, and basic security are made conditional on stopping ‘gay behavior.’ Messages such as ‘if you continue like this, I’ll throw you out of the house,’ confiscation of personal belongings, monitoring of communication, as well as forced visits to psychologists, psychiatrists, religious authorities, or institutions that offer ‘treatment,’ clearly show that this is not care, but pressure and violence. In this sense, the family becomes the primary site of socialization into conversion practices—it does not always carry them out directly, but often initiates, sustains, and normalizes them, creating conditions in which a person internalizes the message that there is ‘something wrong’ with them and that they must change in order to survive,” she explains.

The research confirms that religious rituals, prayers, and various forms of spiritual “healing” appear as one of the modalities of conversion practices.

“However, it is important to be precise, because this is the first study of its kind in Serbia, and it does not allow me to quantify with certainty how widespread these practices are today beneath the radar. Still, there are several clear structural reasons why we can speak of their persistence. The Church in Serbia continues to wield significant social and political power; we live in a kind of quasi-secular context in which religious authorities have real influence over norms, values, and decisions, including family relations. Within such a framework, religious narratives of ‘sin,’ ‘fall,’ or ‘temptation’ are easily translated into practices that contain all the elements of conversion, even though they are not recognized as violence.”

Bajrektarević herself went through similar mechanisms. In the research, she wrote about the promise of “cure” offered to victims. What is most dangerous about this promise of “cure” is not only that it is false, she says, but that it is offered at a moment of profound vulnerability.

“‘Cure’ is not offered as a choice, but as a condition for acceptance, safety, and survival. Psychologically, that promise works by sending you the message that there is ‘something wrong’ with you. And once that message is internalized, a young person begins to believe that pain, renunciation, and self-negation are the necessary price of being ‘normal.’ In this way, the boundary between support and violence is erased, and the person learns not to trust their own feelings, boundaries, and experience. In the long term, this produces a strong sense of guilt, shame, and fear, as well as permanently damaged self-confidence and trust in others,” she emphasizes.

The findings show that victims often begin to believe themselves that they need help. Bajrektarević notes that the moment when one’s own consciousness becomes the greatest persecutor due to the pressure of conversion practices was neither sudden nor easy to recognize.

“It happens gradually, when external pressure begins to turn inward. No one has to openly threaten or punish you anymore—the person starts to monitor, correct, and punish their own thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. It becomes recognizable at the moment when you stop asking ‘why don’t others accept me,’ and start asking ‘what is wrong with me.’ When you begin to seek ‘help’ not because you are suffering due to the violence you are experiencing, but because you believe you yourself are the cause of that violence. At that point, one’s own consciousness becomes an extension of the conversion practice. Recognizing that moment often comes only later, through therapy or encountering an affirming environment, when the person realizes that the ‘problem’ was never them, but the system of pressure that taught them to turn violence inward,” she explains.

What Serbia has not done, but could have

The research shows that the most common consequences of conversion practices are anxiety (58.7%) and feelings of guilt and shame (50%), followed by depression (36.9%) and social isolation (37.4%), while suicidal thoughts were recorded among 29.6% of respondents. Although not the most common consequence, she emphasizes, this percentage is extremely alarming in itself.

“When we talk about the role of the state, it is important to emphasize that state responsibility is not measured only by direct action, but also by systemic inaction.”

“In Serbia, there is no clear legal ban on conversion practices, no binding protocols for institutions, nor mechanisms of prevention, reporting, and sanctioning. In other words, the state does not create conversion practices, but it creates the conditions in which they can persist without consequences for perpetrators. When affirmative and safe support for LGBTI people is continuously not provided, the state bears part of the responsibility for the cumulative consequences we see in the data, including suicidal thoughts,” she says.

Bajrektarević concludes the research with recommendations for the community. Asked what she would say to the Dina who was at the beginning of this journey, she replies:

“To the Dina at the beginning of the journey, I would say: what is happening to you is not your fault and not your choice. Your experience is not a weakness, but a testimony through which we will later understand how violence works—and how others can survive it. Because, unfortunately, many did not survive. I especially want to emphasize a message for my friend, who went through the same experience and was treated by the same psychiatrist as me—your experience was a confirmation of my path. Dino, thank you, and although you are no longer here, your testimony will never be forgotten. To everyone who today sits in offices, churches, or other places believing they need to be ‘fixed,’ I want to say that you are not alone, and that there is a community and support that will not allow this violence to persist. We are at the beginning of the end—hold on just a little longer!” she concludes for Mašina.

---

Source: Mašina, 24 December 2025

Research on Conversion Practices in Serbia: The Beginning of the End of Conversion Practices