FRANCE has seen a rise in anti-LGBT violence since the Covid-19 lockdown, campaigners warned today, with the government admitting its own official figures were misleading.

“There have never been so many domestic violence situations to deal with,” spokesman for the Inter LGBT association Matthieu Gatipon-Bachette told France 24.

“For some young people, their coming out to their family has gone very badly. They usually have a support network in their school and from their friends. 

“But with the various lockdowns, they found themselves alone, and some were confronted with violent reactions when their sexual orientation came out. Others were even thrown out of their homes by their families,” he said.

According to government statistics, anti-LGBT hate crimes fell by 15 per cent in France last year. But the Interior Ministry said the figures were misleading, as many victims do not register complaints.

A survey carried out by the ministry between 2012 and 2018 found that just 20 per cent of the victims of anti-LGBT violence and 5 per cent of those who received verbal abuse report hate crimes.

Mr Gatipon-Bachette said that the restrictions imposed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic had had a major impact on people registering complaints.

“The circulation of Covid-19 has deterred people from moving around and getting together, but victims often ask us to accompany them when they are making this type of complaint. They don’t want to go alone,” he said.

Police often fail to register assaults or threatening behaviour as an anti-LGBT crime, which also skews the figures, campaigners pointed out, saying training among the force to raise awareness should be improved.