Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women: An Overview of Emerging Security Threats

As internet saturation across the globe increases, the digital arena sees increasing violence, abuse, and harm directed towards marginalized people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and women of all sexual and gender identities.

In 2022, Asian LGBTQ activists at a regional forum coordinated by Outright International highlighted the specific need to document and address online gender-based violence against lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women in Asia, who are targeted on the basis of both gender and sexual orientation. Outright conducted research in five Asian countries – Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam – to understand how LBQ women in Asia experience violence and harassment online and how it impacts them. This report summarizes our findings and offers recommendations to policymakers and other stakeholders on how to address these harms.

LBQ women are double marginalized by the misogyny in enforced and unequal gender norms as well as homophobia. Outright’s primary research in the five countries reveals that LBQ women not only face hostile comments online about subjective ideas around “immoral” or “irreligious” behavior or lifestyle but simultaneously are sought to be disciplined and silenced with threats of sexual violence and assault. At the same time, the existence of laws that criminalize LBQ women and the absence of protective laws lends impunity to their violators – making LBQ women easy targets.