ILGA Europe’s report calls 2022 ‘the most violent year for LGBTI people’ in a decade
"There has not only been a stark rise in violence against LGBTI people, but in the severity of that violence."
According to ILGA Europe’s latest report, violence against LGBTI people in Europe and Central Asia is on the rise.
Published Monday (20 February), the annual review reports that 2022 was the most violent year for LGBTI people in the past decade.
These findings were compiled by ILGA-Europe, an umbrella NGO that encompasses over 600 entities across Europe and Central Asia.
“There has not only been a stark rise in violence against LGBTI people, but in the severity of that violence,” the report soberly details.
Facing toxic and even deadly environments, anti-LGBTQ hate crime is on the rise and in many countries labelled “unprecedented.”
Alongside rising hate crime rates, there have also been more reported suicides.
“There is a continuing trend of rising hate speech, much of it related to trans people.”
Education is deemed a “battleground in the resistance to LGBTI people and rights,” the report notes. However, progression in sexual education is being “challenged at a fundamental level.”
Rises in hate speech, particularly transphobic speech has been linked to “hostile media reporting.”
The trans community is of particular concern as hateful rhetoric has culminated into a hostile climate. This can be seen in Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, the report states.
In positive news, there have been more court cases where hate crime and hate speech have successfully been prosecuted.
Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director with ILGA-Europe noted: “LGBTI activists are the central players in countries where progress has been made.”
However, the work of activists and human rights defenders has “been increasingly beleaguered by attacks and restrictions on civil society space.”
ILGA-Europe’s Executive Director, Evelyne Paradis, shared they’d warned the rise in hate speech would translate into actual physical violence.
“Progressive leaders must find effective ways to tackle hate speech in all its forms”
“This phenomenon is not only in countries where hate speech is rife, but also in countries where it is widely believed that LGBTI people are progressively accepted,” Paradis added.
Paradis warns these reports highlight cause and effect that is not going to diminish without action.
“In the current climate, progressive leaders must find effective ways to tackle hate speech in all its forms, instead of finding themselves on the back foot, expressing sympathy for the families of the needlessly murdered, or those who have taken their own lives, while hatred continues to be fostered and exploited.”