Major survey on LGBTIQ youth homelessness in Europe launched

A new survey aims to guage the experiences of European and Central Asian groups and organisations when it comes to LGBTIQ youth homelessness.

Young LGBTIQ people are experiencing homeless every day, often rejected by parents, families and society because of their sexuality or gender identities. Yet, this is a much under-addressed issue in the European and Central-Asian region. 

ILGA-Europe are partnering with key actors in the sector to raise awareness, increase collective knowledge and ultimately explore potential avenues for responses from the LGBTI movement to the problem. These partners include the international LGBTIQ youth homelessness organisation, True Colors United, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) and the Silberman School of Social Work at the City University of New York.

Today, ILGA-Europe, in association with these partners, launch a survey to hear from LGBTIQ groups and organisations what their experience is when it comes to LGBTIQ youth homelessness, what initiatives they have taken, and most of all, what more is needed to further engage in such work.

This is part of ILGA-Europe’s broader effort to mobilise interest, knowledge and resources to tackle LGBTIQ youth homelessness in Europe and Central Asia. By taking this survey organisations will help ILGA-Europe in advocating for more resources and policies, in providing tools, developing knowledge, and bringing expertise to meet the needs of LGBTIQ young people who have become, or are at risk of becoming homeless.

According to Evelyne Paradis, Executive Director at ILGA-Europe: “By taking this survey, LGBTIQ organisations can help us do much needed work with our partners to address the issue of LGBTIQ youth homelessness in Europe and Central Asia. Knowledge of their experiences in addressing homelessness will inform our work with governments and funders, so that one day no young LGBTIQ person finds themselves without a home.”

The survey can be found here, and it takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.