{"id":5794,"date":"2019-11-24T16:32:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T16:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalhatestudies.com\/?p=5794"},"modified":"2019-12-27T14:43:57","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T14:43:57","slug":"understanding-attitudes-toward-lbgt-people-as-victims-of-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalhatestudies.com\/en-US\/understanding-attitudes-toward-lbgt-people-as-victims-of-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Attitudes Toward LGBT People as Victims of Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New study on the attitudes towards LGBT people as victims of crimes<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Dr Piotr Godzisz<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Piotr Godzisz (PhD) is the Principal Investigator in the project Call It Hate<\/a><\/em>. He sits on the Management Board of Lambda Warsaw, the Polish LGBT support organisation, and the Advisory Board of the International Network for Hate Studies. He\u2019s recently been appointed to the position of Lecturer in Criminology at the Birmingham City University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not long ago we published a blog on the\nexpectations of the model hate crime victim written by <\/strong>Dr\nCaroline Erentzen<\/strong><\/a>. This week we are returning to this important\ntopic. Focusing on the attitudes towards LGBT victims in Europe, <\/strong>Dr Piotr\nGodzisz<\/strong><\/a> presents key findings of the 10-country survey conducted as\npart of the international research project Call It Hate: Raising Awareness\nof Anti-LGBT Hate Crime<\/em>. Following the overview of the results,\nrecommendations for policymakers on how to approach anti-LGBT hate crime are\noffered.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of the groups\naffected by hate crime, LGBT people often fall short of the image of ideal\nvictims. A myriad of reasons may cause this: Public displays of sexual and\ngender diversity may be viewed as immoral, while some attacks may take place in\nor around night-time economy venues, such as gay bars, when victims are\nintoxicated. On the offender side, the opposition to the \u201cLGBT ideology\u201d \u2013 e.g.\nthrough blocking Pride events \u2013 may be framed as a legitimate way of protecting\nthe society (particularly children) from harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, however, some\ncharacteristics of anti-LGBT hate crime lend credibility to the victims.\nParticularly those perceived as vulnerable, or weaker than the offender, e.g.\nwomen and children, should be likely to garner sympathy more readily than\nothers. Hate crime offenders, on the other hand, may be portrayed by the media\nas dangerous extremists, a threat to the stability of the society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the above set of\nseemingly opposing characteristics, LGBT victims of crimes could be the \u201cideal\nobject\u201d of studies on model (or \u201cideal\u201d) victims, blame attribution, and\nsupport for hate crime laws. Nonetheless, there is surprisingly little hard evidence\navailable to feed into academic or policy discussions. Building on the\ncharacteristics of the ideal victim proposed by Christie  (1986<\/a>), the Call It\nHate<\/em> research set out to respond to the gaps in the knowledge by measuring\nthe observers\u2019 reactions to anti-LGBT victimisation. A set of scenarios has\nbeen developed to probe whether a hierarchy of victimhood exists in respect to\nLGBT victims of crime and whether the respondents engaged in any forms of\nvictim blaming. The study further develops the field by measuring the\nlikelihood of intervention on behalf of victims, as well as measuring the\nsupport for various strands of hate crime laws in all 10 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methodology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Call It Hate<\/a><\/em> survey was carried out by an international consortium of polling agencies led by Kantar Poland, on behalf of, and under the supervision of, Lambda Warsaw, the Polish LGBT organisation.  Representative samples of populations in 10 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom (the total of 10,612 people) participated in the research, making it the largest public opinion poll on the attitudes towards LGBT people as victims of crime ever conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all countries, the survey included\nquestions about lesbians, gay men and transgender people. These results are\npresented below. Additionally, the Irish and the UK versions included questions\nabout bisexual people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selected results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Empathy for victims<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The survey found that the level of empathy\n(i.e., the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing)\nfor victims of crimes depends on the victims\u2019 sexual orientation. In all 10\ncountries, a heterosexual couple assaulted on the street for holding hands\nreceived significantly more empathy from respondents than a same-sex couple in\na comparable situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n