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Attack on Maneo: Stone throwing hits gay anti-violence project in Berlin!
Maneo in Berlin-Schöneberg was attacked, while anti-queer attacks rose sharply. Investigations are ongoing.
Attack on Maneo: Stone throwing hits gay anti-violence project in Berlin!
The gay anti-violence project “Maneo” in Berlin-Schöneberg was the target of an attack on Sunday morning. A window pane of the project on Bülowstrasse was damaged with a stone. A resident who heard a clanging sound around 6:30 a.m. noticed several people hastily fleeing the scene. She then alerted the police. The investigation was taken over by the state police of the State Criminal Police Office. Since its founding in 1990, “Maneo” has played a central role in the fight against violence against the LGBTQ+ community in Berlin and has received several awards, including from the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
The work of “Maneo” primarily includes supporting victims of violent acts and preventing such attacks. The latest incident falls into an alarming trend: According to the Berlin public prosecutor's office, a total of 791 anti-queer attacks were reported in 2023. This number has almost doubled in the last four years. The affected associations estimate that the number of unreported cases is much higher because not all attacks are reported.
Increase in anti-queer attacks
In the context of this development, Maneo presented the MANEO Report 2023 on May 17th, which was published on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, Transphobia and Queerphobia. The report consists of 240 pages documenting the results of MANEO's work in 2023. This year, 685 new cases and reports with anti-LGBTIQ+ references were recorded, an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. A total of 1,014 cases were recorded, which also shows an increase of 29%. These numbers indicate that social acceptance of “Maneo’s” work is growing and also that more and more people are willing to report attacks.
The statistics are alarming: In 2023, 17,007 cases of hate crime were recorded in the criminal police reporting service, including 1,785 crimes that were specifically aimed at LGBTIQ* people. This represents a significant increase, also compared to the 1,188 cases in the previous year. The most common crimes were insults, acts of violence, coercion and threats. With 212 victims of violence against LGBTIQ* people in 2023, there is a worrying increase compared to the 197 cases in the previous year.
The number of unreported cases remains high
Analyzes show that the number of crimes in the area of “sexual orientation” and “gender diversity” has increased almost tenfold since 2010. A dark field study entitled “A long way to go for LGBTI equality” from 2020 showed that 96% of LGBTIQ* respondents did not report hate speech and 87% did not report physical or sexual assault. The reasons for this are often a perception of the offenses as “too minor or not serious enough” (33%) and the fear of homophobic or transphobic reactions from the police (23%).
The Federal Criminal Police Office is actively committed to promoting diversity and against hatred, discrimination and violence. It has introduced crime prevention programs and created a map of offers against LGBTIQ*-targeted crimes. In addition, on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, the rainbow flag was raised on May 17th to underline the commitment to an open and tolerant society.
Overall, the repeated attacks on facilities like “Maneo” show the urgency of intensifying prevention work and increasing the visibility of violence against the LGBTQ+ community. Society is faced with the challenge of not only talking about acceptance, but also taking concrete steps to ensure the safety of everyone.