Like ethnic minorities and women, violence against people from the LGBTQ+ community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, etc.) is on the “sharp rise” in Europe and Central Asia. As the NGO ILGA-Europe explains in its annual report published on Monday, a federation of more than 600 organizations in 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia, “2022 has been the most violent year for LGBTQ people. + across the region in over a decade […]following increasingly widespread hate speech”.
The NGO also notes an “increase [du nombre] of reported suicides” of LGBTQ+ people, citing “that of a young couple in Armenia who suffered harassment” as well as those of “three trans women in Italy and one in Moldova”. “Over the past twelve months there has been a sharp increase not only in violence against LGBTQ + people but also in the intensity of this violence”, worries ILGA-Europe in the 12th edition of its annual report.
France is not immune to this sad increase
According to the NGO, homophobic physical or verbal attacks are on the rise in France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
ILGA-Europe notes, however, that convictions for the perpetrators of these crimes are more numerous, notably in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Spain and Ukraine.
“At ILGA-Europe, we have been saying for years that hate speech in all its forms translates into physical violence,” commented ILGA’s European Branch Director, Evelyne Paradis.
“Across Europe, many political figures have reacted with horror to the murders of LGBTQ+ people this year and, while expressions of solidarity are still needed, this does not address the root of the problem,” she said. added, calling on “progressive leaders to find effective ways to combat hate speech.”