2007 Hate Crime Survey - Companion Survey on Homophobia - Statistics on Violence Based on Sexual Orientation

Full
Report

Few of the OSCE participating states track and provide statistics on crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias. Canada, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom are the countries where such monitoring is most developed, although only the United States produces comprehensive official statistics nationwide.

There are national hate crime figures in the United Kingdom, but these do not track crimes motivated by bias based on sexual orientation. Within the United Kingdom, London's Metropolitan Police is the independent police authority with the most consistent and comprehensive monitoring on sexual orientation bias crimes. The statistics for London show a fairly steady level of crime motivated by sexual orientation over the past several years, with 1,245 homophobic crimes in 2003/2004, 1,346 in 2004/2005, and 1,294 in 2005/2006.[26] However, these figures likely represent only the tip of the iceberg as police themselves estimate that some 90 percent of homophobic hate crimes go unreported. The percentage of unreported homophobic hate crimes is suspected to be considerably higher than for racially- or religiously-motivated violence, even though the police there have made a concerted effort to improve their relationship with the capital's gay population.[27]

The Police Services of Northern Ireland, in its statistical reporting for the period April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006, recorded 220 incidents "with a homophobic motivation," a 12.2 percent rise over 2004/2005 levels. A total of 148 crimes were recorded, slightly down from the previous year, when 151 crimes were reported.[28]

Homophobic crimes in Northern Ireland stood out for the high percentage - 68.2 percent -characterized as crimes of violence (defined as offences against the person, sexual offences and robbery, in contrast to "property crimes," such as burglary, theft and criminal damage). In contrast, 47.7 percent of the 746 "racially-motivated crimes" reported in the same period were crimes of violence, with 52.3 percent classed as property crimes.

In Sweden, the Swedish Security Service has, since 1997, published statistics on hate crimes with a xenophobic, antisemitic, or homophobic motive. As of 2006, the National Council for Crime Prevention has been commissioned to produce hate crime statistics. For the year 2005, there were 563 reported offenses with a homophobic motive (out of a total 2946 hate crimes), representing a slight decline over figures for 2004, which included 614 reported offenses (out of a total of 3028 hate crimes).[29]

In two other European countries, reporting on hate crimes is systematic, although violence based on sexual orientation is left out of the picture in published statistics. In France, a law against violent crimes motivated by bias founded on sexual orientation was enacted on March 18, 2003, yet official data collection has lagged behind. Currently, the statistics collected by the Interior Ministry and made available in reporting by the National Consultative Council for Human Rights (CNCDH) concern only antisemitic and racist offenses. In Germany, annual reporting on extremist crimes does not provide information on crimes against the LGBT community.

While there is no nationwide uniform reporting in Canada, a number of police agencies in metropolitan areas report on hate crimes, including those motivated by sexual orientation. In Toronto, for example, police reported 13 occurrences representing 10 percent of the total reported bias-motivated crimes.[30] The police in Calgary reported 16 offenses motivated by sexual orientation in 2005 out of a total of 96 reported bias-motivated crimes.[31]

In the United States, the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that in 2005 there were 1,017 incidents motivated by a sexual orientation bias. This figure represented about 14 percent of the total 7,163 reported offenses motivated by bias and a 15 percent decrease over the figure of 1,197 incidents motivated by a sexual orientation bias reported in 2004.[32]

Underreporting

The lack of data on sexual orientation bias crimes for most OSCE participating states make any country-by-country or regional comparisons impossible. Even where such statistics are recorded, underreporting - or more likely non-reporting - is a major problem with regard to the LGBT community.

Victims of hate crimes driven by homophobia often face cultural or social obstacles to reporting attacks and threats. Attacks on LGBT people sometimes go unreported because to do so would bring into light an individual's sexual orientation, possibly resulting in further abuse. LGBT people may fear additional victimization and have little confidence that the criminal justice system will act appropriately in response to criminal complaints. As noted, police in the United Kingdom estimate that up to 90 percent of hate crimes committed against the gay community may go unreported.[33] In Germany, one leading gay rights organization reported that of the 138 incidents of anti-gay violence reported to the organization, only half were also reported to the police.[34]

Fear of police prejudice is one disincentive for greater levels of registration of complaints as homophobic harassment and violence has been known to come from the police themselves. In a case that is being reviewed in Bulgaria by the state anti-discrimination commission, a 22-year- old man was reportedly arrested and ill-treated by police officers in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in October 2005: police reportedly insulted and beat him because of his sexuality and because he was of Albanian origin.[35] In Romania, in July 2006, in Bucharest, two young gay men were reportedly singled out, harassed and threatened by police after they were seen holding hands and kissing in a park.[36] 

Even when LGBT victims of hate crimes go to the police with the intent to make detailed incident reports and lend full support to investigations, they often are discouraged from making formal complaints by police officials. In some cases, even when making detailed complaints, victims discover subsequently that the evidence of homophobia as a bias motivation is not reflected in formal reports.

In the Netherlands, as in other countries, crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias are both underreported and unrecorded. In one incident reported by the nongovernmental Center for Culture and Leisure (Cultuur en Ontspannings-Centrum), an organization representing the interests and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, a gay man reported to police after an incident in which he was harassed and threatened by assailants using anti-gay epithets who also stole his mobile phone. Although the victim reported the incident to the police, it was registered as a case of simple theft, with none of the information provided that would support a conclusion that this was a bias crime. After consulting with the center, the individual returned to file a second report with a police officer who was experienced in dealing with homophobic crimes, and properly registered the details of the crime.[37]

Efforts are being made in the United Kingdom to overcome the problem of underreporting through the introduction of systems of "third party reporting" whereby certain agencies can report hate crimes on behalf of the victims, who may fear going to the police directly. Other measures undertaken there include the appointment of specially-trained officers with a responsibility to register and investigate hate crimes.

Compounding the problem of underreporting and police intolerance is the reality that homosexuality remains socially unacceptable in many countries of the OSCE and the anti-gay statements of some political leaders have strongly reinforced that message. This is partly reflected in the fact that legislation on bias as an aggravating circumstance in the commission of a crime extends to sexual orientation in only 10 of the 56 OSCE participating States. These are: Andorra, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the United States, local hate crime laws in just over half of the 50 states extend to bias based on sexual orientation. Federal hate crimes legislation is limited in its scope to race, color, religion, and national origin, although the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 includes provisions for the collection of statistics on sexual orientation bias crimes. A new bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would, if enacted into law, extend federal protection to include bias based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

Unofficial Reporting by Nongovernmental Organizations

In the absence of police or other official reporting, gay rights organizations in some countries collect statistics and report on incidents of violence against the LGBT community. In Germany, for example, a number of organizations representing the interests of the LGBT community have released reports on violence based on sexual orientation. No one organization produces national statistics - rather reporting generally covers a particular city or state. In its most recent report, the Berlin-based organization Maneo, which monitors reports of violence against gays made by victims or provided to the organization by the police, reported 197 cases of anti-gay violence in Berlin.[38]

In France, SOS homophobie, in its eleventh annual report on homophobia in France, reported on 1332 incidents of homophobia, representing a 10 percent increase over 2005. The organization expressed particular concern by the 17 percent rise in the number of physical assaults in comparison with 2005. The number of physical attacks in 2006 represents 12 percent of the total number of incidents reported.[39]

In the United States, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), a coalition of anti-violence organizations from across the country, produces annual reports on bias-motivated violence against the LGBT community. In their report for 2006, they reported on 1393 anti-LGBT incidents.[40]

Some gay rights organizations have attempted to produce more generalized assessments of the level of homophobic violence through surveys of people from the LGBT community. In Croatia, for example, on May 20, 2006, the Kontra lesbian organization presented the results of findings from a survey conducted at the end of 2005 among members of the Croatian gay and lesbian community. The poll sample included 202 people from the LGBT populations of Zagreb, Rijeka and Osijek.

The results show that in the last four years almost 40 percent of the participants in the survey faced insults and curses, unsolicited sexual approaches, or threats of physical violence, while 14 percent of those surveyed actually suffered physical violent assaults.[41]  

In September 2006, in the Russian Federation, the Russian LGBT Network released the results of a similar survey taken from among Russia's gay and lesbian community as part of a collaborative monitoring project with the Moscow-Helsinki Group. The survey, conducted through an online questionnaire in which 3500 people took part, included one question on bias-motivated violence. Those who took part were asked: "Have you ever been subjected to physical violence in a case where the attacker was motivated by hatred based on sexual orientation?" The response revealed that 26.5 percent of the respondents had been the victim of such violence on at least one occasion.[42]

While such surveys are not always undertaken with scientific precision or cannot claim to be fully representative, they do offer evidence of the problem of homophobic violence that is all too often absent from official statistics.

Executive Summary | Introduction | Violent Homophobic Attacks  | Assaults on Gay Pride Parades and Events in Eastern Europe  | Statistics on Violence based on Sexual Orientation  | Endnotes