CBS: non-binary people are often victims of violence, more than half feel unsafe

Within the queer community, non-binary people and people who are genderqueer (NBGQ) are mainly victims of violence. It shows from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for people who do not identify as male or female.

More than half of NBGQ people sometimes feel unsafe and a quarter actually experience what CBS calls ‘traditional’ violence. This concerns assault, sexual violence, threats, burglary, vandalism and theft. Although bisexual women and homosexual men also mainly experience this type of violence, it occurs proportionally less often than among NBGQ people. For these two groups this amounts to approximately one in ten people.

Also online, NBGQ people are the largest group within the queer community experiencing violence, at 31 percent. Transgender women, intersex people and homosexual women are also relatively often victims of online violence, within these groups this concerns approximately one in five people.

In the CBS safety monitor, questions about gender identity and intersex were added for the first time in 2023. As a result, the experience and safety of NBGQ people in the Netherlands can now be better mapped.

LGBTQ+ community is more likely to be victims

The Netherlands has 2.7 million people who are part of the queer community. Statistics from Statistics Netherlands show that this group experiences violence more often than people who are not part of that group. One in four LGBTQ+ people over the age of fifteen say they are victims of violence. For people who do not identify as queer, this is one in five people.

The perpetrators of violence against LGBTQ+ people are usually unknown. The vast majority of victims do not report the crime to the police. However, it was in March this year known that the perpetrators of LGBTQ+-related violence are more often male and more likely to be known to the law. According to CBS, if the perpetrator is known, it mainly concerns neighbors.

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