In the survey on discrimination and violence against LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) people in Europe, carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, almost half of respondents (47%) reported having been victims of discrimination or harassment related to their sexual orientation in the year preceding the survey. LGBTI people are therefore more likely to be victims of physical and/or verbal violence. They are often stigmatised and exposed to various forms of discrimination and heterosexist violence.
Although this discrimination affects around half of this community, it remains invisible since only 11% of people reported an incident to the authorities. Today, violence against sexual and gender minorities is constantly increasing, harassment affects more than half of LGBTI people and transgender people are particularly targeted.
The experience of violence, discrimination and rejection are associated with an increased risk of mental disorders and suicidal behavior. Indeed, having experienced such traumas causes symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive symptoms: 25% of LGBTI people describe suffering from depressive symptoms. The issue today is public health; self-harming behavior reaches 30% among sexual minorities and 47% among gender minorities compared to 15% among heterosexuals. The people concerned also have a higher rate of alcohol use disorder, eating disorders and developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Individuals who identify with sexual minorities are therefore more likely to experience mental health difficulties, to use inadequate coping mechanisms or even to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
To explain this prevalence of mental health disorders and PTSD, Meyer developed the term minority stress, which describes that minority individuals are more likely to develop PTSD.Minority Stress Theory (2003) suggests that sexual minority populations are more likely to experience negative mental health problems due to the stigma associated with sexual minority status and that belonging to a socially devalued identity increases the risks of exposure to stressors. Individuals who identify as sexual minorities are therefore more likely to experience mental health difficulties and use inadequate coping mechanisms.
Several explanatory factors can be put forward, such as exposure to interpersonal violence, discrimination, adversity during childhood, verbal, physical and sexual aggression often linked to their sexual orientation, family rejection faced by people in the community as well as school rejection, difficult access to care and/or employment due to discrimination as well as all forms of micro-aggressions will increase the risk of developing PTSD.
Despite progress in the recognition of rights, discriminatory and violent attitudes towards LGBTI people persist. Several studies have shown that discrimination affects the health of people who experience it globally, with visible repercussions on mental and physical health and on their health behaviors. Discrimination, of all kinds, is therefore a major public health issue. Although too often ignored, it is nevertheless the cause of a flagrant psychological deterioration in the people who are victims of it.
Genre et santé · Inserm, La science pour la santé. (s. d.). Inserm. https://www.inserm.fr/dossier/genre-et-sante/
Santé Public France, 2021. Stigmatisation des minorités sexuelles. https://beh.santepubliquefrance.fr/beh/2021/6-7/pdf/2021_6-7.pdf
Cessa, D. (2017, 16 mars). La santé des LGBT, un tabou médical. Le Monde.fr. https://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2017/03/13/la-sante-des-lgbt-un-tabou-medical_5093851_1650684.html
Santé Publique France, 2021. Discriminations : un enjeu majeur de santé publique. https://www.egalite-femmes-hommes.gouv.fr/sites/efh/files/migration/2021/05/Dossier-de-presse-Impact-des-discriminations-sur-la-sante-Vdef.pdf
Aline Carrupt Editor. (2023, 20 septembre). PROFA | Personnes LGBTIQ+ : un rapport constate des inégalités face à la santé. PROFA. https://www.profa.ch/lgbt-rapport-cf
Editions du Conseil de l’Europe (2011). La discrimination fondée sur l’orientation sexuelle et l’identité de genre en Europe. https://rm.coe.int/la-discrimination-fondee-sur-l-orientation-sexuelle-et-l-identite-de-g/16807b8a8f
Afp, L. M. A. (2024, 14 mai). La violence à l’encontre des personnes LGBT+ au plus haut en Europe. Le Monde.fr. https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/05/14/la-violence-a-l-encontre-des-personnes-lgbt-au-plus-haut-en-europe_6233133_3224.html
Alfonsi, M., & Afp, A. (2024, 16 mai). SOS Homophobie alerte sur une « vague de transphobie » en France : « Les braises de la LGBTIphobie sont allumées ». Le HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/life/article/sos-homophobie-alerte-sur-une-vague-de-transphobie-en-france-les-braises-de-la-lgbtiphobie-sont-allumees_233969.html
David M. Frost and Ilan H. Meyer (2023). Minority stress theory: Application, critique, and continued relevance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10712335/
William Peraud (2024). Webinaire : Les TSPT chez les personnes LGBTQIA+ - L'Association Française du Psychotraumatisme et de la Résilience (AFPR)
Maurin, L. (2023, 26 janvier). L’homosexualité largement tolérée, mais loin d’être banalisée. Observatoire des Inégalités. https://inegalites.fr/valeurs-homosexualite
Rapport sur les LGBTIphobies, 2024. SOS homophobie. https://ressource.sos-homophobie.org/Rapports_annuels/Rapport_LGBTIphobies_2024.pdf
[AH1]Pour moi cette partie est répétitive et pas nécessaire
Comments