What is a homophobic incident?

Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic or transphobic by the victim or any other person. This means any incident (not necessarily a crime) which is motivated by prejudice against LGBT people and/or their friends and families. This might include, for example, things such as harassment, verbal abuse, physical threats, assaults, graffiti and damage to property.

Why should you report?

Reporting incidents assists the police in tackling homophobic / transphobic crime. The information you provide is valuable, it enables the police to identify areas of concern, patterns of behaviour and could possibly help catch / prosecute offenders. If left unreported, the offenders are free to repeat similar offences, and think they can get away with this sort of offence because they won’t get reported. You do not have to be the victim to report an incident: If someone you know is a victim, or if you witness such an incident then please report it. Any person can say it's homophobic - The incident need not be a crime - No incident is trivial - All homophobic incidents and crimes will be recorded by the police.

Who do you contact to report an incident?

You can do this by contacting the dedicated Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender (GLBT) Liaison Officers at Bedfordshire Police. There contact information is provided below. These are officers who have been specially trained to deal with sensitive matters that arise when dealing with homophobia.

If you prefer to speak with someone not connected with the police you can contact the Men4Men SHOP which can act as a liaison to report a serious incident.

What to do if you have suffered a physical assault/attack:-

1. Report the crime immediately to the police or via the Men4Men SHOP;

2. If you have been assaulted it is very important that you don't delay in doing this and crucially don't shower, wash or change your clothes. If you do this you may destroy vital evidence;

3. Don't drink alcohol or take tranquillisers or any other drugs as you will need to give a clear account of what happened;

4. If your keys are stolen, with identification of where you live don't return home alone. If you share your house, call home and let them know what has happened. Later replace all locks effected.

Domestic Violence - A Resource for Gay & Bisexual Men

The Barking & Dagenham tPCT NHS has produced an extremely informative booklet on this topic that can be read using with adobe acrobat. Click here to download it.

Men4Men SHOP funded by Luton tPCT NHS. Content © 2001-8 Men4Men SHOP
Disclaimer: gay-bedfordshire.co.uk does not endorse the content of external websites
(Note: the sexual health posters are adapted from ones produced by the Terrence Higgins Trust)