LGTBIphobic assaults increase by 50% in Catalonia in 2021

BarcelonaViolent attacks against the LGTBI collective increased by 50% in Catalonia last year. The Observatory against Homophobia (OCH) counted, in total, 284 incidents between January 1 and December 31, 2021 in Catalonia. Of these, a third ended in a complaint. The organisation's report The state of LGTBIphobia in Catalonia 2021, which was presented this Monday in Barcelona, also alerts that July was the time of the year when more cases were registered (48), and that most of the attacks occurred on weekends.

The organisation's data also shows that the average age of people who report an LGTBIphobic incident is between 33 and 34 and that, by province, 44.7% of attacks take place in Barcelona, compared to 20.8% in Tarragona, 17.6% in Girona and 16.9% in Lleida. In the city of Barcelona, most incidents occurred in the districts of Eixample, Ciutat Vella and Sants-Montjuic, which are areas where, according to the OCH, there is a greater nightlife, a factor that could explain the higher concentration of cases.

As for the type of attacks, the Observatory explains that most of them are verbal and physical. Homophobia represents 58% of the total number of incidents, but the OCH also warns that there is a notable increase in cases against the trans community, especially against trans women, who have reported 13.4% more cases than the previous year.

Faced with these data, the president of the Observatory against Homophobia, Eugeni Rodríguez, has insisted that LGTBIphobia is structural and has assured that they will need "more resources for July and weekends". He has also advanced that, as for this 2022, since January 1 there have already been 125 incidents in Catalonia, representing an increase of 34% over the same period compared to 2021.

Rodríguez also considered that the Generalitat's Department of Equality and Feminisms "has not done the necessary work and resources are absolutely ridiculous" and stressed it is urgent to roll out the law 19/2020 of equal treatment and non-discrimination. At the same time, he celebrated that this Monday the cabinet has approved the law on trans and LGTBI rights, a norm that he described as an "important legal tool for trans people", which Rodríguez says should also protect trans migrants, non-binary people and trans teenagers.