“What happens online has real consequences on people’s lives.” This sentence could sum up the conclusions of two reports just published, one by the NGO ILGA and the second by Human Rights Watch, two organizations committed to the consolidation of the rights of LGBT people.
The first, published on February 20, details the state of these rights in 54 European countries. He concludes that the increase in hate speech towards the LGBT community translates into growing animosity and more acts of violence.
The second, dated February 21, and titled “All because of a photo. Online targeting and its offline consequences for LGBT people in the Middle East and North Africa”, studies the case of five countries in this region in which LGBT people are hunted down by the police before being imprisoned and tortured, even when the legal framework does not condemn homosexuality.
Dating apps, new weapons of oppression of LGBT people
It warns of how law enforcement authorities monitor transgender and gay people through the use of social media and dating apps in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. The report looks at the development of police practices that come into contact with LGBT people by creating accounts on the Grindr application. After several weeks of discussions through the application, the person goes to the scheduled appointment, unaware of the real identity of his interlocutor.
“The arrest is the beginning of the nightmare”, explains Ahmed Benchemsi, director of communications and advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. In the hands of the police, the accused is often abused, tortured, he is sexually assaulted. He must also give his phone in which there may be elements considered as evidence to extend the scope of the charges.
“The police thus gain access to the accounts of other members of the LGBT community”. And in case they don’t find information damning enough, “the police make them”, adds Ahmed Benchemsi. To hope to get out of prison, the accused must engage in self-incrimination sessions and pay bail.
In Europe, a murderous year
ILGA, for its part, returns to the discrimination and violence suffered by LGBT people in Europe. Country by country, its report details their situation through twelve criteria such as access to housing or health, but also the place they occupy in hate speech, on social networks and in politics.
It is difficult to precisely quantify the murders which are caused by hatred of LGBT people, but the association estimates that in 2022 the incitement to mistrust and hostility towards this community has increased. This translates into an increase in violence against them, as shown in an Amnesty International report in August 2022 about the harassment and reduction of freedoms suffered by the LGBT community in Poland.
Like ILGA, Amnesty International believes that the situation of this community has worsened with the coming to power of conservative governments in Europe. However, the report stresses the importance of the work of local militant associations which guarantee them support and protection, an element also mentioned by Human Rights Watch. These local organizations are not named by the reports in order to preserve their security as well as their activity.