Violence against LGBTQ+ people in Europe and Central Asia to reach its highest point in a decade in 2022, a report released monday By the European International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) show.
The region also saw a sharp increase in violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, including planned attacks but also suicides, against a backdrop of “increasing and widespread hate speech from politicians, religious leaders, right-wing organizations and media pundits”.
Incidents of violence in the past year have included a shooting outside a gay bar in Oslo that killed two and injured 21. last JuneAlso a similar attack on an LGBTQ+ venue in Bratislava in which a gunman killed two people last October,
“This year, we have seen violence become increasingly well-planned and deadly, leaving LGBTQ+ people feeling unsafe in countries across Europe,” Evelyn Paradis, executive director of ILGA-Europe, said in a press release.
“We’ve seen evidence that anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech is not just the words of fringe politicians or autocrats, but a real problem with serious consequences for people and communities,” Paradis said.
The report, published annually and covering 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia as well as four European institutions, is based on publicly available information, complemented by interviews with human rights activists, legal experts and non-governmental organizations Is.
Hate speech is also on the rise, the report found – much of it relating to trans people. Hate speech was reported from politicians and state officials in 23 countries across Europe as well as in Azerbaijan, while transphobic speech increased in five other Western European countries, including “hostile media reporting”.
Nevertheless, “convictions of hate crime offenders have increased” in 10 European countries and Azerbaijan, and a growing number of officials And media Representatives have been taken to court in seven European countries for hate crimes and hate speech.