Our submission to the inquiry into anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes in Victoria argues that we must address the underlying drivers of violence against LGBTIQA+ people – including anti-LGBTIQA+ prejudice and rigid masculine norms – as well as addressing the factors driving some of the contemporary manifestations of this violence, such as the ways in which online platforms can be used to engage in hate speech and facilitate hate-motivated offline attacks.
Our recommendations include that:
- Violence prevention and early intervention programs must explicitly challenge anti-LGBTIQA+ prejudice and rigid gender norms, and must be scaled up to reach more people, especially boys and young men.
- Governments must take stronger action to ensure young people are protected from harmful online content. This involves both equipping parents, schools and young people with the information and tools necessary to safely navigate online spaces and, importantly, requiring technology companies to take greater responsibility for preventing, detecting and disrupting online harms that occur on or are facilitated by their platforms.
- Young people who cause harm and victim-survivors should have ongoing access to restorative justice processes, which have been shown to promote accountability and reduce recidivism among young people who have caused harm and to promote healing and reduce post-traumatic stress for victim-survivors.
- The Victorian Government must invest in LGBTIQA+ organisations, who are best placed both to lead efforts to prevent anti-LGBTIQA+ violence and to support victim-survivors and their communities.
