“Every week I receive death threat messages“, denounced Jarry in the show C to you. The comedian, who has never hidden his homosexuality, believes that homophobes have become louder, more dangerous. Are there more attacks against LGBT+ people?
Figures for 2023, communicated by Unia (organization for the defense of human rights), show an increase in hate crimes against LGBT+ people. According to the director of the organization, these people are better protected, but they are still the main victims of violence… Whether in the street or on social networks.
85 cases were opened last year for acts of hatred linked to sexual orientation, compared to 53 in 2022.
85. This is the highest number in the last five years. More than half of the cases for homophobia that Unia closed in 2023 involve acts of hatred. For example, assault and battery or intimidation.
And we are only talking about known complaints here. You should know that in Belgium, only 14% of LGBT+ people questioned, having been attacked, went to the police, according to figures from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
Although enormous progress has been made in Belgium to protect LGBT+ people, mentalities still need to evolve and the current political context is not favorable to this.
The polarization of social networks, fueled by algorithms that push the most extreme opinions, also affects LGBT+ people. Hostile, contemptuous, threatening or insulting comments receive a disproportionate response which sometimes exceeds the limits of freedom of expression.
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