In this essay, it will be looking into the world of the LGBT community and what that means for people 's experiences involving and surrounding crime and victimisation, and statistics on LGBT crime starting with, "Almost half (48 per cent) of all lesbian, gay and bisexual people have been the victim of some type of crime or incident in the last three years." (TGBCS, 2013). It will also look at types of risk factors that are experienced in the LGBT community, to which tends to have an impact on certain types of crimes experienced against them. "Even though there is an increasing acceptance of LGBTI people in society and greater visibility in the media and public life, many LGBTI people still experience discrimination, harassment and violence
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Family risk factors, which include; rejection, low income, poor housing and history of violence and abuse. Can see how a family could easily be targeted by criminal activities because of someone 's sexuality. Allowing for not only an individual within the family to be a victim of hate crime but also the effects it has to the family also. "Homophobic-related violence is symbolic" (Cunneen et al. 1997; Whilock and Slayden, 1995. Cited in Mason, 2001). It is seen that a person who classes themselves as homosexual that it "stands as a sign of the potential danger" (Mason, 2001, p.84). A part of the LGBT community and family is how a person lives with HIV and the implications of having the disease has on a family. "The stigma of having an HIV-positive family member, can elevate family stress levels and cause isolation from normally utilized resources." (Fruhauf and Mahoney, 2009, p.44). This can see somebody expelled from a family and experience family rejection as they may not be able to deal with the stigmatisation and also embarrassment of having a HIV positive member in the family. This can lead to the individual becoming a victim of crime to the extent of public shaming, harassment and bullying and also physical violence, all contributing to the statistics of higher rates of suicide and depression within the LGBT community. Family rejection …show more content…
The rise in numbers of HIV and also become a target for offenders and can be explained using rational choice theory as media coverage grows and grows it becomes more of an issue to people to become prejudiced against it and find reason to offend and be violence to people with the disease. "Benill (1992) argues that increased media exposure of gay men and lesbian women (due largely to the HIV/AIDS epidemic), produces an environment in which "such coverage, along with growing political activism within the gay community ... may have simultaneously increased acceptance and exposed gay men and lesbians to greater risk of violence""(Benill,1992, cited in, Tewksbury et al,
Family risk factors, which include; rejection, low income, poor housing and history of violence and abuse. Can see how a family could easily be targeted by criminal activities because of someone 's sexuality. Allowing for not only an individual within the family to be a victim of hate crime but also the effects it has to the family also. "Homophobic-related violence is symbolic" (Cunneen et al. 1997; Whilock and Slayden, 1995. Cited in Mason, 2001). It is seen that a person who classes themselves as homosexual that it "stands as a sign of the potential danger" (Mason, 2001, p.84). A part of the LGBT community and family is how a person lives with HIV and the implications of having the disease has on a family. "The stigma of having an HIV-positive family member, can elevate family stress levels and cause isolation from normally utilized resources." (Fruhauf and Mahoney, 2009, p.44). This can see somebody expelled from a family and experience family rejection as they may not be able to deal with the stigmatisation and also embarrassment of having a HIV positive member in the family. This can lead to the individual becoming a victim of crime to the extent of public shaming, harassment and bullying and also physical violence, all contributing to the statistics of higher rates of suicide and depression within the LGBT community. Family rejection …show more content…
The rise in numbers of HIV and also become a target for offenders and can be explained using rational choice theory as media coverage grows and grows it becomes more of an issue to people to become prejudiced against it and find reason to offend and be violence to people with the disease. "Benill (1992) argues that increased media exposure of gay men and lesbian women (due largely to the HIV/AIDS epidemic), produces an environment in which "such coverage, along with growing political activism within the gay community ... may have simultaneously increased acceptance and exposed gay men and lesbians to greater risk of violence""(Benill,1992, cited in, Tewksbury et al,