Debate: Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia
Date: TUESDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2022
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

This attack reminds us of this summer’s terrorist attack prior to Oslo Pride, killing two and injuring several others, and other attacks that have targeted the LGBTIQ community in recent years. These abhorrent murders are a threat to our societies built on human rights and equality. In recent years, hate speech and hate crime targeting persons based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, but also targeting organisations supporting LGBTIQ rights have increased globally, including across the European Union. As we have already heard from the minister, the 2019 FRA LGBTI survey clearly documents that one in ten LGBTIQ respondents in the EU were physically or sexually attacked in the five years before the survey because they are LGBTIQ. Trans and intersex respondents experienced attacks at up to twice the rate of the rest of the community, while only one in five incidents of physical or sexual violence was reported to any organisation. The European Commission is determined to ensure that everyone feels safe and free to be who they are and love who they want, wherever they are. The Commission has taken important steps to end the exclusion of and discrimination and violence against sexual and gender minorities. Two years ago, we adopted the LGBTIQ equality strategy, which combines targeted actions with the mainstreaming of LGBTIQ equality in all policy areas. As part of the strategy the Commission adopted last December a communication accompanied by a draft Council decision to extend the current list of EU crimes to hate crime and hate speech. If this Council decision is adopted by Member States, the Commission will be able in a second step to propose secondary legislation which would allow the EU to criminalise other forms of hate speech and hate crime than the ones currently laid down in the framework decision on combatting racism and xenophobia.  The Commission is also focusing on creating dialogue and exchanges of good practices among Member States. We have set up an LGBTIQ expert subgroup, which meets regularly and agreed on guidelines for strategies and action plans to enhance LGBTIQ equality, which also covers hate crimes. And on hate speech and hate crimes since 2016, a high-level group on combating hate speech and hate crime provides a forum for dialogue and good practice exchange among national authorities. The work has focused on better support of victims, stepping up hate crime, training for law enforcement and enhancing reporting and hate-crime data collection. The high-level group has just adopted key guiding principles on cooperation between civil society organisations and law enforcement, in particular, to address the persistent underreporting of hate crimes. This summer, these two work strands came together in a dedicated session on tackling hate crime and hate speech against LGBTIQ people. The sessions served to highlight promising practices from both Member States and civil society organisations. The Commission also continues to provide funding under the citizens equality rights and values programme to initiatives aimed to tackle hate crime and hate speech, as well as to enhance LGBTIQ equality. Equality bodies can play a key role to collect reports of discriminatory acts. This is why we will soon present a new proposal on equality bodies to strengthen their independence and to make sure that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, at least in the field of employment and occupation, is part of the remit in all EU Member States. We continue to push for the adoption of the 2008 proposal for a horizontal anti-discrimination directive that would extend protection against discrimination to all other areas of life. Dear members, hate has no place in Europe. All institutions must join forces to put an end to it.