BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE (BME PEOPLE)
Stonewall Housing disseminates high quality and specialist advice to its BME clients on issues including homelessness, harassment, housing options, security of tenure, disrepair, and legal rights and obligations. We have a dedicated BME worker who can provide advice and ongoing advocacy to LGBT BME people.
What are the problems?
BME people are sometimes unable to access housing services due to factors such as language, religion, background and cultural differences.
LGBT BME people may experience the double discrimination of homophobia or transphobia and racism. LGBT BME people may face racism from within the LGBT communities, homophobia or transphobia from within the BME communities, and both within housing services.
How Stonewall Housing can help
Stonewall Housing recognises the specific ways LGBT BME people can be marginalised and disadvantaged in the housing sector, and we try to positively challenge this.
In addition to our other services, our BME Housing Advice Worker carries out a specialist advice surgery specifically for LGBT BME people every second Thursday of the month at Peckham Pulse, 10 Melon Road, SE15, from 5.00pm – 7.00pm. She works with other agencies to provide a holistic service for clients, and can put clients in touch with other support groups and services.
Other sources of help
- Black Men’s Advisory Group (www.bgmag.org.uk) works for black men who have sex with men
- Black Lesbians UK (www.bluk.org.uk) is a black lesbian social network
- Imaan(www.imaan.org.uk) is a social support group for LGBT Muslims
- KISS(www.planetkiss.org.uk) is a social group of women who identify either as lesbian, bisexual or queer and are of South Asian or Middle Eastern or North African descent
- LYC London(www.lyclondon.com) is a social, support and sports group for gay Oriental guys in the UK
- Naz Project (www.naz.org.uk) provides support services to targeted BME communities in London and has a support group for gay men from The Horn Of Africa
- Safra Project (www.safraproject.org) is a resource project working on issues relating to lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender women who identify as Muslim religiously and/or culturally
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DOMESTIC ABUSE
Domestic abuse can affect people of every background, culture, class, religion, gender, and sexuality. Stonewall Housing recognises that domestic abuse has the same devastating effects and is just as prevalent for LGBT people as for heterosexual people. For example, research carried out by University of Southampton in 2000, found that 1 in 3 LGB people asked had experienced violence in the home, 62% of which was characterised as domestic abuse.
What are the problems?
It can be difficult for people to recognise that they are experiencing domestic abuse and therefore they are unlikely to try to access support services or other forms of help.
Currently there is little suitable emergency accommodation for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women fleeing domestic abuse, and no suitable accommodation for gay, bisexual and transgender men. There is no emergency accommodation for men fleeing domestic abuse at all. If a man does not have support needs he may not be suitable for supported hostel accommodation and may not be found in priority need for other housing.
How Stonewall Housing can help
If you have experienced domestic abuse you can contact Stonewall Housing for help and advice through our daily advice line or three weekly surgeries. Click here for details.
In addition our specialist Domestic Abuse Housing Advice Worker is available on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 10am until 1pm on the Broken Rainbow advice line on 08452 60 44 60.
Our specialist Domestic Abuse Housing Advice Worker can provide ongoing advocacy and support to survivors of domestic abuse, and can work with you in a number of ways depending on your wishes and the options available.
If you wish to leave your home we will try to help you find suitable safe accommodation either in a women’s refuge or other safe space for men and transgender people, or we may be able to support you in making a homelessness application to a Homeless Person’s Unit (HPU). Or you might choose to stay in your own home and we will support you to do so, helping to make it safer, for example by applying to sanctuary projects to improve safety for your protection.
We can support you in reporting to the police, GUM clinic or doctor, and can arrange counselling if you wish. We will also encourage you to keep a record of the abuse.
If you wish we can help you to try to gain protection from perpetrators using civil law, which would include trying to obtain a court order against the perpetrator. Another option may be to use criminal law to press charges against the perpetrator, and if you decide to take this route you might wish to access witness protection schemes or Victim Support services.
Other sources of help
- In an emergency, call 999
- Broken Rainbow (www.broken-rainbow.org.uk) provides ground-breaking services to LGBT people experiencing domestic violence. Broken Rainbow Hotline Number 08452 60 44 60
- WAFE (Women’s Aid Federation of England) (www.womensaid.org.uk) provides support to women on 0808 200 247
- Refuge(www.refuge.org.uk) is a London-wide domestic violence organisation supporting women and children
- Threshold Gay Men’s Shared Housing (www.threshold-housing.org.uk) provides support and housing for gay men escaping domestic and/or homophobic violence
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HATE CRIME
Many of our clients experience homophobic or transphobic harassment and violence from neighbours and therefore feel very unsafe in their home.
Harassment/violence can take a number of forms –
- Verbal threats
- Graffiti
- Post being opened
- Home being attacked
- Stones/eggs etc being thrown
- Physical attacks
What are the problems?
There is massive under-reporting of hate crime. Victims have to reveal their sexuality in order to report and this can put some people off. It can help to have a supportive advocate, which is what we provide.
Still, there is a massive lack of social housing and this means it can take longer than it should do for people to be moved somewhere safe.
How Stonewall Housing can help
If you have experienced a homophobic or transphobic hate crime in or around your home you can contact Stonewall Housing for help and advice through our daily advice line or three weekly surgeries. Click here for details.
If you want to stay in your home we may be able to help get safety measures installed – i.e. locks, bars, alarms etc. We can help to ensure the local authority/housing association (where relevant) takes action against the perpetrator. This might sometimes involve the perpetrator being moved to alternative accommodation away from the area.
If you don’t feel safe at home we can help advocate for a transfer, or assist in making a homelessness application where appropriate.
We also work in partnership with Galop (www.galop.org.uk), London's LGBT community safety charity. We can refer you to Galop, and with your permission we can share information with their workers, so that both organisations can work together to help you. Galop can assist you in reporting the incident to the police, or if you don’t want to speak to them directly, will help you make a third party report. This allows Galop to report information about a hate crime on your behalf to the police, but your details will be completely confidential to them, or you can remain anonymous.
Other sources of help
- In an emergency, call 999
- Galop (www.galop.org.uk) will assist you in your report while maintaining confidentiality. Galop Shoutline: 020 7704 2040.
- You can report using a self-reporting pack and send it to the police.
- Call your local Community Safety Unit which has special responsibilities in hate crime (www.met.police.uk/csu). You can ask to speak to an LGBT liaison officer.
- You can report a hate crime through the True Vision website www.report-it.org.uk.
- Local LGBT Forums – contact details can be downloaded in PDF format at www.lgbtag.org/documents/forumcontacts.pdf
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YOUNG PEOPLE
Many young LGBT people experience homophobia or transphobia in the place they are living, be that with family members or in other accommodation. Negative responses to sexuality or gender identity can make a young LGBT person feel unwelcome at home, sometimes leading them to leave their accommodation.
What are the problems?
If a young LGBT person is homeless, there are the usual problems of finding somewhere to sleep, obtaining food, staying clean, sexual abuse and prostitution, and drug and alcohol abuse that many young homeless people have to contend with. Additionally, young LGBT people may also face the emotional distress of rejection by family members, having to come to terms with their sexuality or gender identity, and homophobia/ transphobia or invisibility in housing services.
There is a massive shortage of social housing generally, and in particular a real lack of safe spaces for young LGBT people to live in. This means that it can take longer than it should for young people to find a safe home to live in.
Young people who are aged 16 and 17 are in priority need, which means the Local Authority has to give them somewhere to live. However, in some Local Authorities there seems to be a lack of knowledge of this, with workers turning away homeless applications from young people inappropriately.
How Stonewall Housing can help
Our specialist Young People’s Advice Worker provides a housing advice service to young LGBT aged 16 to 25 who are homeless, unsuitably housed or have any other housing problem. We can help young LGBT people make homeless applications, try to find clients somewhere suitable to live, and advocate on their behalf.
If appropriate, we can refer young LGBT people to Stonewall Housing’s housing service, and we also have links with other housing providers to ensure that young LGBT have access to appropriate and sensitive housing.
Our worker has particular expertise in the needs and experiences of young LGBT people, and knowledge of the particular legislation, guidelines and other developments relevant to young people.
Other sources of help
- Click here to download our fact sheet on LGBT youth groups
- Triangle Wales (www.trianglewales.co.uk) provides housing assistance to young LGBT people in Wales.
- Albert Kennedy Trust (www.akt.org.uk) provides homeless LGB teenagers (under 21) with lesbian or gay homes in London and Manchester
- The Outpost Housing Project offers supported accommodation to homeless young lesbians and gay men for 6 to 12 months in Newcastle. Telephone 0191 222 1937, minicom 0191 222 1937, email info@outposthousingproject.co.uk
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