For LGBTQIA people, hate can – and does – start at home.
A global report noted that family members are often the main perpetrators of abuse against lesbians, bisexual women and transgender people.
British LGBTQIA organization Stonewall looked at data from 24 countries, and it found numerous countries where LGBTQIA people experienced abuse from family members.
For instance, respondents from Zimbabwe were more likely to suffer violence from relatives than from strangers. In the southern African nation, more than half of the people who took part in the two-year “Out of the Margins” project said they had experienced physical abuse at the hands of family members.
In Venezuela, all of the transgender men surveyed reported attacks by relatives. And – surprisingly – mothers in Venezuelan families were cited as the main aggressors by 71% of bisexuals and 48% of lesbians.
Meanwhile, in Trinidad and Tobago, Montenegro, Burundi and Peru, there were “striking levels of discrimination and violence against trans children and young people in schools”.
The abuses from family members impact the lives of LGBTQIA people, obviously.
In Burundi, for instance, respondents failed to finish their education after families kicked them out of their homes because of their sexuality or gender identity.
“Out of the Margins” examined the LGBTQIA situation across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean from the perspective of five of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It focused on health, economic well-being, education, personal security and violence, and civic and political participation.
