A/HRC/19/41 30. The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders has expressed deep concern regarding “denigration campaigns and violent threats against defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.”42 The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders noted in 2007 that those defending the rights of LGBT and intersex persons had had their houses and offices raided, and been attacked, tortured, sexually abused, threatened and killed, adding that “a major concern in this regard is an almost complete lack of seriousness with which such cases are treated by concerned authorities”. 43 31. Where available, national crime figures indicate high levels of violence targeted at individuals on the basis of their actual or presumed sexual orientation or gender identity. In the United States, for example, Government figures show numbers of bias-motivated incidents against gay, lesbian and bisexual people rank second only to racist incidents and on par with incidents against members of religious minorities. 44 In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the only European Union state to publish official data on prosecutions for LGBT-related hate crimes, 988 criminal cases were initiated in 2007, of which 759 resulted in convictions. 45 32. A recent Council of Europe report found “Hate-motivated violence and hate crimes against LGBT persons take place in all Council of Europe member states.”46 A survey conducted in 2008 in the United Kingdom by the non-governmental organization Stonewall, with Government support, found that a third of lesbians and a quarter of gay men experienced a hate crime or incident (including verbal aggression) in the preceding three years.47 In a Slovenian study, 53 per cent of lesbian and gay respondents reported experiencing violence in the past because of their sexual orientation. 48 A 2011 report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to experience sexual and other assaults in private settings than gay or bisexual men, who are more likely to be attacked by unknown perpetrators. The perpetrators are usually young men in groups.49 33. Treaty bodies have expressed concern about rhetoric used to incite hatred and related violence.50 Such language can be used by political and community leaders to stir up 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 on South Africa (CEDAW/C/ZAF/CO/4), para. 39; and on the report of the Special Rapporteur on her mission to Kyrgyzstan (A/HRC/14/22/Add.2), para. 38. A/HRC/13/22, para. 49. A/HRC/4/37, paras. 94-96. Uniform Crime Report: Hate Crime Statistics 2009, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C., November 2010. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Homophobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Part II – the Social Situation”, 2009, Vienna, p. 38. “Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Europe”, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, June 2011, p. 52. “Homophobic hate crime: The Gay British Crime Survey 2008”, Stonewall, London, 2009, p. 11. A. Svab, R. Kuhar, “The Unbearable Comfort of Privacy: Everyday Life of Gays and Lesbians”, Ljubljana, 2005, p. 153. “Homophobia, Transphobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the EU Member States: Summary of Findings, Trends, Challenges and Promising Practices”, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Vienna, 2011, p. 13. See for example the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on Poland (CCPR/C/POL/CO/6), para. 8. See also the concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on the Republic of Moldova (CAT/C/MDA/CO/2), para. 27; Poland (CAT/C/POL/CO/4), para. 20; and Mongolia (CAT/C/MNG/CO/1), para. 25. 11