N.B. This part of the Lesbian Line website is still being developed.

Lesbian Line needs your help - if you have any experiences or ideas you'd like to share as we build up a collection of useful resources, please contact us.

We hope the resources in this section will cover such areas as:

i) Coming Out

ii) Lesbianism is a Feminist Issue

iii) Lesbian Realities

iv) Homophobia & Hate Crime

Homophobia & Hate Crime

Lesbian Line meets with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Incidents of reported Homophobic Crime

How confidential is the report of a homophobic incident?

The bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street (April 1999) was a frightening reminder of the ever-present reality of violent crime against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Indeed, the statistics are alarming. Stonewall's 1995 study of violence against lesbians and gay men in Britain, found that one in three gay men and one in four lesbians had experienced at least one violent attack during 1990 -1995. Because of fear of becoming the victim of homophobic violence, 65% of respondents always or sometimes avoided telling people they were gay, and 59% of respondents always or sometimes tried to avoid looking obviously gay. The problem is even worse for young lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. For those aged under 18, 48% of respondents had experienced violence, 61% had been harassed and an astonishing 90% had experienced verbal abuse because of their sexuality.

'Breaking the Chain of Hate', the National Advisory Group's 1999 national survey examining levels of homophobic crime and community confidence towards the police service, confirmed these statistics: 66% of 2,500 respondents stated that they had been a victim of a homophobic incident - only 18% of all homophobic incidents were reported.   70% were fearful of reporting future homophobic incidents.

Reasons for not reporting included: lack of confidence in the police anticipated negative reaction fear of being charged with gay offence fear of being outed fear of retribution acceptance of violence and abuse

A more recent study The Low Down, Black Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexual People talk about their experiences and needs, by GALOP (2001), the London Gay and Lesbian Policing Group, found similarly high levels of violence and abuse against lesbian and gay black and minority ethnic groups. 68% experienced homophobic abuse and 81% experienced racist abuse. 10% experienced homophobic violence and 24% experienced racist violence.

Lesbian Line meets with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Lesbian Line Belfast gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee investigation into Hate Crime in June 2004 and October 2004. The full transcript can be found here on Hansard.  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmniaf/548/54802.htm

Incidents of reported Homophobic Crime

The level of reported homophobic crime has increased. Twice the number of attacks were reported to the PSNI in 2004. In 2005, the figures just released suggest that there was an increase from 71 to 196. This may be because there are more homophobic attacks or that people are feeling a greater sense of confidence in going forward to the police and reporting the crime, but there is still a long, long way to go. Lesbian Line Belfast has set up a third party reporting system so that women can report through the organisation rather than having to go to the police directly. A lot of women in our society still feel uncomfortable going to the police.

Women often ask: How confidential is the report of a homophobic incident?

If you are worried about reporting a homophobic crime and are not wanting to go through the PSNI for your own reasons then the Lesbian Line form can help. By filling in details it can provide information to, at the very least, add to the gathering of statistics and at most help prevent crime in future. If you are worried about being ‘outed’ then the best thing is to work through Lesbian Line who can protect your identity. If you are worried about the PSNI not understanding Lesbian issues and not being sensitive to Lesbian needs then the Minority Liaison Officers are trained to deal with the specific communities that experience Hate Crime. If you need Lesbian Line to accompany you to report a homophobic incident then this can be arranged through our Helpline. A lot of the organisations exist on a shoestring and are run entirely by volunteers.