Hate crime up in France

French National Police figures show homophobic and transphobic hate crime in France was up 36% last year, with reports from 1,870 victims.

Three quarters were men and nearly two thirds (62%) were under 35 years old. 33% of the cases involved insults while 28% included physical violence or sexual attacks.

The figures are up from 2018’s 1,380 cases and LGBT+ hate crime charity SOS Homophobie said the real numbers are higher as many victims don’t come forward.SOS Homophobie’s own report shows the charity handled 2,396 cases in 2019, a rise from 1,905 the previous year. It said cases have doubled since the charity’s first report in 2013, with an ‘alarming increase’ of 130% in physical attacks against trans people.

According to recent Research from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 60% of LGBT+ EU citizens always or often avoided holding a same-sex partner’s hand in public for fear of being assaulted, threatened or harassed. But the figure in France is above that average at 72%.