Hate crimes against LGBTI people in Europe and Central Asia have reached record levels in 2024, an NGO report published on Tuesday found.
According to the document published by ILGA-Europe, the rise in violence against LGBTI individuals is being fueled by a “normalization of hate speech by political and religious leaders.”
ILGA-Europe is an umbrella organization grouping over 700 LGBTI initiatives from Europe and Central Asia.
According to the report: “Bias-motivated violence against LGBTI people remains alarmingly on a steep increase across Europe, with incidents reported in the vast majority of examined countries.”
Other surveys echoed the ILGA-Europe findings. A European Union report showed a considerable spike in harassment and bullying of LGBTI people in the 27 EU countries, plus Serbia and North Macedonia.
In 2023, 55 percent of people said they were harassed, and 67 percent were bullied at school in the previous 12 months, compared with 37 percent and 46 percent in 2019, the EU-LGBTIQ Survey III (2024) reported, and quoted in Politico.
The new report also states that LGBTI people are increasingly used by governments and politicians as ideological scapegoats to gather support and push for more restrictive policies.
“In Albania and Italy, conservative coalitions are perpetuating harmful narratives, accusing the LGBTI community of undermining family values and destabilizing society,” the report’s authors write.
“Fearmongering is being used to justify restrictions on trans healthcare in countries such as Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom,” they add.
As support for the far-right grows in Europe and Central Asia, laws specifically targeting LGBT people and organizations are passed, the report shows.
Meanwhile, laws on so-called ‘LGBT propaganda’ criminalizing visibility and restricting discussion of LGBTI issues have been enacted or proposed in seven countries in Europe.
But the LGBTI crackdown at the political and national level often faces resistance from regional and European courts upholding LGBTI human rights, the report states. Positive developments are pointing to “efforts to combat hate speech gaining momentum,” as well as passing anti-hate speech laws, it said.
ILGA-Europe is an umbrella organization grouping over 700 LGBTI initiatives from Europe and Central Asia.
According to the report: “Bias-motivated violence against LGBTI people remains alarmingly on a steep increase across Europe, with incidents reported in the vast majority of examined countries.”
Other surveys echoed the ILGA-Europe findings. A European Union report showed a considerable spike in harassment and bullying of LGBTI people in the 27 EU countries, plus Serbia and North Macedonia.
In 2023, 55 percent of people said they were harassed, and 67 percent were bullied at school in the previous 12 months, compared with 37 percent and 46 percent in 2019, the EU-LGBTIQ Survey III (2024) reported, and quoted in Politico.
The new report also states that LGBTI people are increasingly used by governments and politicians as ideological scapegoats to gather support and push for more restrictive policies.
“In Albania and Italy, conservative coalitions are perpetuating harmful narratives, accusing the LGBTI community of undermining family values and destabilizing society,” the report’s authors write.
“Fearmongering is being used to justify restrictions on trans healthcare in countries such as Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom,” they add.
As support for the far-right grows in Europe and Central Asia, laws specifically targeting LGBT people and organizations are passed, the report shows.
Meanwhile, laws on so-called ‘LGBT propaganda’ criminalizing visibility and restricting discussion of LGBTI issues have been enacted or proposed in seven countries in Europe.
But the LGBTI crackdown at the political and national level often faces resistance from regional and European courts upholding LGBTI human rights, the report states. Positive developments are pointing to “efforts to combat hate speech gaining momentum,” as well as passing anti-hate speech laws, it said.
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