Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People: Safety Report 2015

Date: 22nd June 2015
Category: Right to life, survival and development, Non-discrimination, Awareness-raising

LGBT Youth Scotland has recently launched a new report on Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People: Safety. The report is based on a survey with LGBT young people, ages 13-25 across Scotland and focuses on their awareness of rights under hate crime legislation, confidence in the police and criminal justice system, and their feelings of safety in the community.

The survey results show that LGBT young people in Scotland still experience homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in public spaces. While progress has been made in regards to raising awareness of hate crime, not all LGBT young people are aware of which actions may be classified as criminal or how to report.

• Half (50.2%) of LGBT young people said that they were aware of what their rights are under hate crime legislation.
• 53.8% of all LGBT respondents said they would feel confident in reporting a crime they experienced to the police and 48.2% of transgender young people were confident to report.
• Bisexual women were the least likely to feel confident reporting a hate crime (46.3%) yet also the second most likely group to feel supported by the police (67.9%).
• Only half (51.8%) of transgender young people felt safe using public transportation.
• Download the full report here.