Almost half of gay Dubliners are victims of homophobic crime

Almost half of gay Dubliners claim to have experienced either verbal or physical abuse due to the sexuality according to a report published by the government’s Equality Authority.

41 per cent of the thousand people questioned in the capital, Dublin said that they had been the victims of a homophobic hate crime, defined as “s “any physical or verbal attack where the victim is primarily targeted because of their perceived sexual orientation.”

Of these victims, only one in five reported it to the police with the rest considering that reporting the incident would be pointless or that they held no confidence in the Garda.

The report, compiled by gay health charity Johnny, found that 86 per cent of gay people would like to see more visible policing in their city.