An organisation representing the LGBTQ community in Switzerland says complaints of abusive behaviour have not declined, despite the law against hate crimes currently being tightened.
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The “Hate Crime Report” from Pink Cross, the Lesbian Organisation Switzerland (LOS) and the Transgender Network Switzerland does, however, show levels of violence decreasing. The report was issued on Monday, International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
“This shows that attacks on LGBTQ people are unfortunately still an everyday reality, despite coronavirus measures,” the report states, referring to restrictions on the number of people who can gather in one place.
Last year 61 homophobic hate crimes were reported – compared with 66 in 2019. The proportion of physical assaults decreased from around a third of all complaints in 2019 to 18% last year. It is believed that many more cases of abuse remain unreported. People who reported the abuse said they had suffered psychologically.
In 2020, Swiss voters backed the strengthening of news laws against LGBTQ discrimination, but the changes to the criminal code are still in the process of being implemented.
To speed up the implementation of the law, the Pink Cross and LOS have submitted action plans across 16 cantons so far. “Since the Federal Council wants to shirk its responsibility and leave the implementation to the 26 cantons, we have decided to take action,” read a press release.
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“It is an appeal that we are making to finally have an overview of the situation in Switzerland,” says Muriel Waeger, head of LOS (Organisation suisse des lesbiennes), in Lausanne. Members of the homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) community are more likely to be the targets of hate crimes related to their sexual…
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