Swiss LGTBIQ helpline: attacks more than doubled in 2023
Keystone/Michael Buholzer
On Friday, three organisations who jointly operate a Swiss helpline drew attention to the big increase in reports and called for appropriate action.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
In 2023, 305 cases of verbal abuse or attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ) people were reported to the Swiss LGBTIQ Helpline – more than twice as many as in 2022.
The rapid increase shows that the more LGBTIQ-hostile climate in the media and politics has real consequences for the safety of such people in Switzerland, said Transgender Network Switzerland (TGNS), the Lesbian Organisation Switzerland (LOS) and the organisation Pink Cross, which jointly operate the helpline.
The helpline has been recording reports of such “hate crimes” since 2016, the associations said. The aim is to visualise the extent of violence and discrimination since, as they noted, Swiss authorities do not collect comprehensive national statistics on the issue.
Just 61 reports were received in 2020, compared to 92 in 2021, 134 in 2022 and 305 in 2023. Almost 70 of the cases last year involved verbal abuse or insults, either experienced or observed; 64 people suffered physical violence.
Almost half of all reported cases (131) came from canton Zurich. As in the previous year, this was followed by Bern (36), St Gallen (27), Aargau (22) and Vaud (14). Only 15% of such incidents were reported to the police.
Bern event
On Friday morning, the three groups also drew attention to the “intolerable situation” with a campaign called “305 voices against hate” on parliament square in Bern. The demonstration involved 305 telephones ringing simultaneously, symbolising the number of messages received by the helpline in 2023.
In a press release, the organisations described their campaign as a “wake-up call”. Politicians need to do more, they said, and broad prevention and awareness-raising measures are needed in society. It was further noted that training for law enforcement agencies and victim support centres is needed.
There is also a lack of funding for counselling and support services for those affected, the associations pointed out, noting that almost all of the services offered by LGBTQ umbrella organisations depend on donations and are “precariously financed”.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc,dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Has your continent reached its peak or is there still potential for economic growth?
Some regions of the world are on an upward trajectory with the promise of a steadily improving future. Where do you live? And in which direction is your region or continent developing?
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
US tariffs: Pharma firms not planning job cuts in Switzerland
This content was published on
The additional investments in the US will not lead to a reduction in jobs in Switzerland. This is according to pharmaceutical giant Roche, which expects the number of employees to remain stable in the current year. The position of Novartis is similar.
Switzerland is closely monitoring three livestock diseases
This content was published on
The spread of Lumpy skin disease, Bluetongue and African swine fever are keeping Swiss veterinary authorities on the alert.
Swiss writer wins European Prize for Political Culture
This content was published on
On Saturday, the Hans Ringier Foundation awarded the 91-year-old Zurich writer Adolf Muschg the European Prize for Political Culture.
Swiss government working with firms to overcome high US tariffs
This content was published on
The Swiss delegation that travelled to Washington has returned from talks on tariffs in the United States. The negotiations are now being conducted under the aegis of the government and the federal administration, according to Seco.
WTO improves its world trade forecast thanks to Trump’s tariffs
This content was published on
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) expects world trade to grow by 0.9% this year, better than expected in April. US imports surged in the first quarter as a result of Donald Trump's tariff announcements.
Swiss gold exports might not face US tariffs after all
This content was published on
Gold exports to the United States may not be taxed after all. The White House plans to "issue an executive order in the near future to clarify misinformation regarding the taxation of gold bullion," among other things.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.