‘I still wake up at night’: Syrian men and transgender rape survivors struggle in Lebanon
LGBT survivors of sexual violence told Human Rights Watch that accessing services for their physical and psychological trauma is a challenge in Lebanon.
Gay and bisexual men and transgender women who fled to Lebanon to escape sexual violence in Syria’s war are struggling with extreme physical and psychological trauma, made worse by a lack of available health services in their host country.
Forty LGBT survivors in Lebanon, which hosts more than 1 million Syrian refugees, told the New York-based nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch they were targeted with sexual violence by various actors during Syria’s conflict.
Some said they were harassed or abused at checkpoints for being “soft looking.” Others said their sexual or gender identity made them subject to additional torture, including rape and forced nudity, inside Syria’s notorious detention centers.
“They rape you just to see you suffering,” a 28-year-old gay man who was detained by the Syrian intelligence agencies told Human Rights Watch. "I look behind me when I am walking. I still wake up at night. What would happen if it happens again?"
