From fines to crimes, attacks against LGBT + people are on the rise in 2022. In a study published on Wednesday, the statistical service of the Ministry of the Interior notes an increase of 3%. More than 4,000 facts were recorded, the majority being defamation or insults.
Among these acts of hatred, the most serious are also those which increase the most. 2,420 are anti-LGBT+ crimes or misdemeanors, an increase of 13% compared to last year, while the facts recorded as contraventions are down 9%. “This could reflect an upward qualification of anti-LGBT+ abuses more systematically recorded as crimes or misdemeanors rather than fines” by law enforcement, according to the report, published every year on the occasion of the day international campaign against homophobia and transphobia.
The tip of the violence iceberg
Since 2016, anti-LGBT+ acts have increased sharply: +129% for crimes and offences; +115% for fines. This is only the visible part of these attacks: only 20% of victims of threats or violence and 5% of victims of insults report them to the police or the gendarmerie, recalls the study. For more than half (57%), it is insults or defamation. Harassment (5%) and attacks of a sexual nature (2%) are rarer and concern “just under 200 offences”.
Paris is the city where anti-LGBT+ acts are the most frequent, with 400 incidents recorded, i.e. 18.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. These attacks are mostly committed (56%) in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants. The victims are mainly men (72%), aged under 30 (52%) and the majority of attacks take place in public places.
A hatred “anchored” in French society
The perpetrators are also mainly men (83%) rather young (35% are under 20 years old, of which 11% are under 15 years old). Hate against LGBT+ people remains “rooted” in French society, SOS Homophobia was alarmed in its annual report published on Tuesday.
In 2022, the association collected some 1,500 reports relating to situations of homophobic or transphobic hatred, i.e. a level more or less stable compared to the previous year, but with a significant increase in physical attacks (+ 28%). The government will present “before the summer” a plan to better combat anti-LGBT + violence, spokesperson Olivier Véran announced on Tuesday.