Ireland Looking At New Hate Crime Legislation After Horrific Homophobic Attack
After talking to a man on Grindr Marc Power decided to meet with him but instead was greeted by a gang of teenage boys who destroyed his car and attacked him with hammers, leaving him injured in this homophobic hate crime.
After this incident, Ireland’s Department of Justice is going to carry out research and help tackle hate crime, currently not having specific legislation to counter hate crimes, According to 'The Journal'.
LGBT+ activists say homophobic hate crimes are in the rise in Ireland.
Paula Fagan the CEO of LGBT Ireland said: “It’s certainly something that is coming up on our helpline and I think it’s under-reported in our community even to us.
“Firstly, we hear about the worst cases in the media, and then we hear from other people who feel like they might be in a compromised position. For example, someone who isn’t out and they go on a date and have been attacked, or subsequently blackmailed.
“And they will come to us about it because they feel they can’t go to the guards and don’t know what to do. I think, anecdotally, that these things are on the rise and I think we’re seeing a rise in organised hate speech too.”
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