ILGA-Europe brings together more than 600 organizations from 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia. According to the federation, 2022 was “the most violent year for LGBTI+ people in more than a decade.” Violence is on the rise in France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, according to ILGA-Europe.
Violence against gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex and bisexual people has also intensified, according to the NGO. In the annual report, ILGA-Europe refers, among other things, to an attack on a gay bar in Oslo in June in which a man opened fire on partygoers. Two people died and 21 people were injured.
The organization states that the violent crimes are the result of an “increasing spread of hate discourse”, and calls on “progressive leaders to find efficient means to fight against that hatred”. “We have been saying for years that hate speech in all forms translates into physical violence,” said director Evelyne Paradis.
SEE ALSO: 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ people experience physical violence