Tackling Discrimination

Running alongside their established affirmative and relationship counselling services, Switchboard are launching in August a new Hate Crime support and reporting service for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community. After giving the victim full information on police systems, processes and the current law, they will offer to report the crime on the victim’s behalf - anonymously if necessary - and provide support via the helpline and counselling service to all victims.

NHS staff in Brighton and Hove have also taken part in Affirmative Practice training to ensure they have a clear understanding of the issues faced by the LGBT community. Developed for NHS Sussex Partnership by Brighton LGBT Switchboard, Mind Out and The Gender Trust, the courses have been running since March and are designed to help staff gain insight and skills in addressing the needs of LGBT clients.

Brighton and Hove has one of the largest LGBT populations in Europe but local research has shown that LGBT people in the city are likely to face difficulty in using mental health services because they expect not to be taken seriously or have experienced homophobic attitudes in the past from health care professionals.