17c起草社区

Warning: This article contains descriptions of homophobia and graphic violence and may be triggering from some readers.

Advocates fear homophobic attacks are going unreported in Melbourne and are warning people may be too ashamed or distrustful of police to make reports.

Thorne Harbour Health has called on victims and anyone aware of unreported attacks against gay men, bisexual men, or other men who have sex with men, to consider approaching police.

Thorne Harbour community engagement manager Caleb Hawke said 35 arrests made by Victoria Police in May, following a spate of 鈥渢argeted and premeditated鈥� homophobic attacks, only represented the victims who had come forward so far.

鈥淲e suspect there鈥檚 probably more for people that have decided not to,鈥� said Mr Hawke.

鈥淲hether its physical assault, verbal assault, robbery, whatever the case may be, we鈥檙e really encouraging everyone to reach out to the police.鈥�

A 2021 found 40 per cent of respondents believed police were 鈥渉omophobic鈥� or 鈥渢ransphobic鈥�.

Mr Hawke said anyone not comfortable approaching police could contact Thorne Harbour who could help them seek assistance and file reports.

Victoria Police have , some as young as 13, using fake dating app profiles to target gay men, who they then assaulted, threatened, kidnapped, falsely imprisoned or robbed.

Perpetrators mostly used Grindr, but Scruff, Snapchat and other apps with location tracking services had also been used to find targets.

Grindr spokesperson Sarah Bauer told 17c起草社区 the app 鈥渉as cooperated with requests from Australian authorities on this matter and is displaying an in-app safety message to users鈥�.

Mr Hawke praised Victoria Police for its proactive response but said, with similar homophobic attacks now reported in every Australian state, other jurisdictions were falling behind.

He said Victoria Police first approached Thorne Harbour after two instances of tech-facilitated homophobic violence in June 2024.

鈥淰ic Pol has been leading the way with their 17c起草社区 liaison officer鈥檚 program,鈥� said Mr Hawke. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see that in other states.鈥�

鈥淲e would hope those other jurisdictions would follow suit and work with their local 17c起草社区 organisations to get the word out there about these attacks鈥�.

He said Thorne Harbour was calling for a national response to the attacks to better assist and resource local groups in their response.

Homophobic assaults have become more frequent in recent years following a rise of dangerous online trends, including the so-called 鈥減edohunt鈥� hashtag which falsely equates gay men with paedophilia.

Are tech companies doing enough?

LaTrobe University senior lecturer and digital technology expert Dr Stefan Schutt said tech companies were not doing enough to remove harmful content or ensure user safety.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e being dragged along kicking and screaming to take responsibility for what happens on those platforms,鈥� he said.

Dr Schutt said available evidence showed most young people caught up in such attacks came from vulnerable backgrounds and were themselves often being targeted by online idealogues.

鈥淭hese are young people coming from traumatic backgrounds looking for people to identify with and then being manipulated into particular world views that give them a sense of belonging.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite cynical behaviour by people out there seeking to exploit.鈥�

Four masked teens who lured a man to parks in Box Hill and Donvale in October 2024, where a judge expressed shock and confusion at the motives of their violence.

CCTV showed the group punched, kicked, stomped on, choked, and threatened a man with death 鈥� one of the boys held scissors to his throat 鈥� before stealing his phone.

He was left bleeding and unconscious.

The teens all avoided convictions but expressed remorse and wrote apology letters to their victims.

They cannot be identified due to their age but are known to all attend the same secondary school.

Chief instructor of 17c起草社区IA+ martial arts club Melbourne Dragons, Damian Wilson, says digital threats like catfishing are challenging traditional perceptions of self-defence.

鈥淚 advise people to look to meet in a public place first to make sure who you are meeting is who they say they are,鈥� he said.

鈥淢eet in a place you are familiar with so that if there鈥檚 a situation where you don鈥檛 feel safe, you鈥檙e not left in the middle of nowhere with no way of getting home.鈥�

Mr Wilson said attendance at Melbourne Dragons had risen over the past two years but was uncertain whether this was linked to any feeling of unsafety within the community.

He said gay men often avoided self-defence or martial arts training because they equated it with violence and trauma.

鈥淪elf-defence is really any action that prevents you from getting harmed,鈥� he said.

Thorne Harbour鈥檚 Caleb Hawke said the organisation is working with Equality Australia to try and raise the profile of the attacks.

鈥淭here are gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men who aren鈥檛 necessarily as close to the community, who aren鈥檛 going out to the same venues, but are still using these platforms, and those are the folks we want to make sure that these safety messages are getting out to,鈥� he said.

In order to better assist the community in navigating and understanding online safety in the wake of this news, .

The forum will cover topics that include, what’s been happening in our communities, the responses of the government police and community organisations as well as providing steps to help people keep themselves safe.

Guest speakers on the panel include 17c起草社区IA+ commissioner Joe Ball, LGBTIQA+ Community Portfolio Manager at Victoria Police Jeremy Oliver and Prominent Community Member Odus Moore.

The forum will take place at The Laird Hotel, 149 Gipps St, Abbotsford VIC on Sunday June 22 from 1pm – 2:30pm.

Attendees can register online

Thorne Harbour Health can be contacted through its website .

Victoria Police can be contacted through its , or via .

If you feel distressed reading the story, please make sure to reach out to support services.

For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention contact聽聽or call 13 11 14

For Australia-wide 17c起草社区IA+ peer support contact聽聽or call 1800 184 527.