Street Fighters

Putting an end to homophobic street crime is a real battle. ACON’s Anti-Violence Project is meeting the problem head on.

The above extract is from a report made to ACON’s Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project (AVP), just one of 45 reports from the GLBT community to the AVP between January and June this year.

However, government research indicates that only 13 percent of incidents are reported, meaning the actual figure for that period is probably around 500. Welcome to the world of ‘gay hate’.

The issue of homophobic violence received widespread attention following the brutal bashing of Sydney man Craig Gee in Darlinghurst in December 2007.

Since then, local police have been working hard on ways to address the problem. However homophobic violence continues and both the AVP and NSW Police Force recognise that this is an important and ongoing area of work.

‘’Government research shows that 85 percent of people in the GLBT community have experienced some form of homophobic violence” says AVP’s Acting Coordinator Robert Knapman.

The AVP tackles this problem by taking reports, supporting victims, running anti-homophobia, safety and reporting campaigns, promoting anti-homophobia education in schools, running the Safe Place program and lobbying relevant authorities for safer community spaces.

 “One of the biggest problems ACON faces in terms of improving security for the GLBT community is that most victims of and witnesses to homophobic violence don’t report it. As a result, the stats are a lot lower than they should be which diminishes the need for the relevant authorities to take action.

To help us improve the safety of our communities, we encourage people to report all incidents and get them on the record.” Robert also says better reporting needs to fit in with a range of other strategies if the fight against homophobic violence is to be effective. These include:

• addressing homophobia in schools and in the broader community before it happens
• empowering the GLBT community with personal strategies for avoiding violence
• making spaces like Oxford St safer for the GLBT community
• working with police and law enforcement to ensure the needs of the GLBT community is met
• ensuring appropriate support is readily available for victims of violence

“We’re doing what we can to put these strategies in place but it requires real commitment from government and our community,” Robert says. “It’s a tough job but until we live in a society where everyone upholds values of tolerance, understanding and respect, we need to take action.”