Australian Gay Youth Afraid Of Seeking Police Help
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Victoria Police have released a report it commissioned into their relationship with the LGBT community. The finds show high levels of mistrust between the two groups causing a flow-on effect of gay hate crimes not being reported in the southern state.
The key finding os the report state:
- Close to 95 percent of those surveyed had been victims of hate crimes
- Just over 10 percent of hate crimes were reported to police
- Only 42 percent said they trusted police
- Close to 60 percent believed police couldn’t appreciate their difficulties
- Only half would report hate crimes, and a third would report sexual assault
“Their levels of trust were still only about 50 percent, many of them either because they had bad past experiences or because they had just had absorbed that suspicion that a lot of LGBTI people have of police historically,” said the report’s lead author, Liam Leonard.
The ABC reports that hundreds of police officers want more training on LGBTI issues.
