Despite the rise, activists warn not all hate crimes are being reported.
Figures from the Interior Ministry have revealed that anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in Germany have risen substantially since 2013. In 2013, police recorded 50 incidents against the LGBTQ community, this nearly doubled to 97 last year, and this year there have already been 58 incidents.
The figures also showed an increase in the amount of LGBTQ-related properties that are being damaged.
Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Doris Achelwilm, from the Left Party, called on the government to take more action, and that she felt the attacks reflected issues of a societal nature.
“The increase in violence is not a coincidence,” she said. “It emerges from a social climate that puts minorities under pressure and threatens them in a new way.”
Helmut Metzner, a spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Association, said: “Effective measures for prevention, recording crimes and prosecution must be introduced. Facilities for victims must be adequately supported.”
The news comes as Germany continues to slip down in international rankings for LGBTQ holidays. The latest edition of the Gay Travel Index has had Germany substantially fall from third place to 23rd place.
The country ranks in the same place as Colombia, French Polynesia, Israel and New Caledonia. It ranks directly below France, Gibraltar, Greenland, Ireland, Switzerland and Uruguay.
Germany isn’t the only place to be suffering from an increase in anti-LGBTQ hates crimes, as the amount happening in England and Wales have more than doubled in the past five years.
In 2013-2014, there were 4,600 reported anti-LGBTQ crimes. In 2017-2018, there were 11,600, an increase of 144%. Transphobic hate crimes had tripled from 550 to 1,650. And nearly half of the reported anti-trans attacks (46%) involved some form of violence, ranging from common assault to grievous bodily harm. For homophobic hate crimes, 40% of these involved violence against a person.
Nick Antjoule, the head of hate crime services at Galop, said: “We’ve seen a big spike in the scale and seriousness of hate crimes.
“In the last several years, there’s been a really huge spike in transphobic hostility that people are facing from their neighbours, public transport and online … It’s something we need to see changed so people can live their lives openly.”
Laura Russell, the director of campaigns policy and research at Stonewall said: “We are still not living in a society where every LGBT person is able to achieve their potential and not have to live in fear of physical or verbal violence for being who they are.”
Latest
