Side event on "LGBTI, armed violence, and security: advancing a research agenda" Regional Review Conference on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development Geneva, Switzerland | 8-9 July 2014

1. LGBTI, Armed Violence and Security:
Advancing a Research Agenda
Marcus Wilson
8 July, 2014
Regional Review Conference on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and
Development: Geneva, Switzerland

2. LGBTI, Armed Violence and Security:
Advancing a Research Agenda
“To those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, let me say: You are not alone.
Your struggle for an end to violence and discrimination is a shared struggle. Any attack
on you is an attack on the universal values the United Nations and I have sworn to
defend and uphold. Today, I stand with you, and I call upon all countries and people to
stand with you, too.”
Ban Ki Moon, to the Human Rights Council meeting on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity
7 March 2012

3. About the Small Arms Survey
 Independent research institute
 Reliable and impartial policy-relevant analysis on small arms and armed violence
 Evidence-based, policy-relevant analysis on small arms and armed violence
 Support primarily from governments
 Works with governments in multilateral forums
 Works closely with UN system & other partners
 Network with civil society partners
 Support from governments:
• Finland
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark

4. Hate Crime: involves any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to
be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a personal characteristic, be it race, religion,
disability, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation
Terminology
SOGI: an acronym for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Sex: a person’s biological status and is typically categorized as male, female, or intersex
Gender identity: one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender
Gender: the attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that a given culture associates with a person’s
biological sex
Sexual orientation: the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted
LGBTI: a commonly used acronym to collectively describe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Trans/Transgender, and Intersex people

5. Human Rights Council Resolution 17/19, June 2011
The first ever UN Resolution on Human rights, sexual orientation
and gender identity:
‘Expressing grave concern
at acts of violence and
discrimination, in all regions
of the world, committed
against individuals because
of their sexual orientation
and gender identity,’

6. SOGI-based Violence
Framing the issue
 Gender-based violence
 Human Rights
 LGBTI
 SOGI
 Sexual Violence in Conflict
Bridging the gaps
 Armed Violence Reduction
and Prevention
 LGBTI Rights and anti-
Discrimination
 Police and Security Forces

7. SOGI-based Violence: What do we know?
 SOGI-based
violence has
been recorded in
all regions, but
gathering data is
difficult and often
complicated by
social, political,
and availability
factors

8. SOGI-based Violence: What do we know?
 Homophobic hate crimes tend to show high levels of cruelty and
brutality, including beatings, torture, mutilation, castration,
sexual assault, ‘honour killings’, and murder
Source: Guasp, A. ‘Homophobic Hate Crime: The Gay British Crime Survey 2013’, Stonewall, p.11

9. SOGI-based Violence: What do we know?
 Distrust in police
and justice
institutions,
sometimes
implicit in hate
crimes, prevents
many victims
from reporting
discrimination or
violence Source: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, ‘EU LGBT Survey: Results at a Glance’, FRA, p.21

10. SOGI-based Violence Through an AVR Lens?
 People – inclusion & victimisation
 Agents – motivation
 Instruments – frequency & access
 Institutions – enablers or protectors
 Root causes
 Local National Regional Global
 Positive norm setting

11. Existing Recommendations
 Pursue initiatives that address anti-SOGI violence and discrimination, such as
public information and awareness-raising campaigns designed to address societal
prejudice
 Encourage comprehensive analysis through extensive research and regular
reporting
 Take measures to prevent torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment and investigate promptly all reported killings and other serious incidents
and establish systems for their recording and reporting
 Implement appropriate sensitization and training programmes for teachers, police,
prison officers, border guards, immigration officers and other law enforcement
personnel

12. Existing Recommendations
Research Agenda: Where to from here?