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Home Office report on hate crimes reveals shocking figures
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One in five gay men and lesbians victims of hate crimes, says survey
"In the 21st century, no one should ever feel under threat of verbal or physical violence just because of their sexual orientation"
A YouGov survey on hate crimes perpetrated against gay men and lesbians has found that one in five has been victimised at least once in the last five years. The crimes range from physical attacks and sexual assualts to campaigns of intimidation, often from neighbours and work colleagues. One in six victims had been physically attacked, while nine out of ten victims had suffered verbal abuse. Most of these attacks go unreported.
Home secretary Jaqui Smith responded to the findings with dismay. "In the 21st century, no one should ever feel under threat of verbal or physical violence just because of their sexual orientation," she said. Mike Cunningham from the Association of Chief Police Officers added that, "it cannot be acceptable that a third of victims do not report incidents because they do not think the police would, or could, do anything about it."
The survey came in the wake of the murder of barman Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common in June 2006. His mother, Sheri, said of the findings of the survey, "Homophobia is endemic in society. We cannot accept this. No intelligent, healthy or reasonable society could."
