The results of the survey reveal that 47% of respondents had felt discriminated against or harassed during the preceding year. Of the respondents which had been attacked during that period, a majority (59%) reported that an attack or threat of violence were entirely or partly due to being perceived to be LGBT. However, respondents rarely report violence or discrimination as they do not believe that reporting incidents to authorities would make any difference.
The fear of disclosing sexual orientation can have effects also on the reporting of diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In countries where discrimination against gay men, for example, is high, the reporting of HIV may become misrepresented, as gay men with HIV may not dare disclose the nature of their sexuality. In such circumstances an HIV case may be reported as a heterosexually transmitted case rather than as a homosexually transmitted one.
References
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). European Union lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender survey. Results at a glance. Vienna: FRA. May 2013. Available from: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eu-lgbt-survey-results-at-a-glance_en.pdf

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