To assess the prevalence of physical and sexual violence motivated by perception of sexual orientation and gender identity in sexual and gender minorities.
This report finds that discrimination, homophobia and Russia’s crusade against non-traditional sexual relationships have helped fuel a worrying rise in hostility towards LGBTI human rights groups in parts of the former Soviet Union.
Openly gay, lesbian and transgender people face persecution across the Arab world. The exception may be in Lebanon, which has slowly grown more tolerant thanks to the work of activists.
Niko, a 27-year-old gay epileptic from Baku, recalls being beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and raped by four police officers who detained him during a crackdown on homosexuals in Azerbaijan.
“An official culture of violence and intolerance against human diversities has been promoted in the past four decades in Iran, without any resistance against such widespread hatred.”
