NCAVP releases annual report on anti-LGBT violence, announces new training academy

DETROIT – On April 26 the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released their 11th annual report on bias-related incidents targeting LGBTs in the U.S. The report shows a 4 percent increase in incidents for a total of 1,792 in 2004, compared to 1,720 in 2003.
"Coincidentally, Michigan is showing a 4 percent increase," said Jeff Montgomery, co-chair of the NCAVP and executive director of the Triangle Foundation, where the report was debuted at a Tuesday press conference.
Montgomery sat down with Between The Lines in advance of releasing the report to talk about its results as well as some of its implications. The NCAVP tracks all types of violence against LGBTs, ranging from verbal harassment to murder.
"We make it really clear to people that there's no such thing as an insignificant incident," said Montgomery. "That's a message that we try to get out every time we talk about this stuff."
The NCAVP is a non-profit voluntary network of over 20 community-based victim service organizations that monitor and respond to violence against the LGBT community. Though the network is national, it is not, by Montgomery's own admission, comprehensive.
"The thing about this report that we always want to make people aware of is Columbus is Columbus, and essentially that sort of takes into account most of middle Ohio," he said. "Then there's a small program operating in Cleveland. But what that means is that no one should assume that if you're abused in Dayton or Cincinnati that you've got anything to do. You probably don't. Unless you know that Columbus is there and you phone them up and they'll do what they can for you."
Some reporting agencies attempt to cater to entire states, such as Triangle here in Michigan and other organizations in states such as Colorado, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Then there are entire regions that are without a reporting agency. In the South, for example, New Orleans will soon have an anti-violence project for the first time. The training there will kick off a national effort to build more national infrastructure in the future.
"This report only talks about the places in the report that are covered," said Montgomery. "The South is not in here."
For an example of how this affects reporting, consider that in the report for 1998, the high profile Matthew Shepard murder is not reported anywhere because there wasn't an agency – or anti-violence program – involved in documenting that report.
What this means is that while the NCAVP report is undoubtedly a valuable resource, in addition to reporting on hate crimes its other unwitting function is to speak to the need for more agencies across the country to help track these crimes.
"How many people do you think have suffered anti-GLBT violence in Tampa?" Montgomery asked. "How many people do you think have suffered that kind of violence in Montgomery, Alabama? How many people do you think have suffered that kind of violence in Las Vegas? Those aren't captured by anybody."
Last week the NCAVP announced a groundbreaking training academy geared toward resolving this issue. Funded in part by the Gill Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation and the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Program, the NCAVP hopes the academy will encourage the creation of additional anti-violence programs across the country, so that in years to come their annual report can more thoroughly track crimes that occurred across the country.
"For years, NCAVP and our members have been helping communities without local anti-violence programs respond to violence incident by incident," said Clarence Patton, NCAVP's acting executive director, in a press release issued last week. "This academy will create an opportunity for us to work proactively and develop resources for LGBT people in more places around the country."
The other factor to consider in reading the report, said Montgomery, is the number of crimes that go unreported even in areas that have an anti-violence program.
"We say there's a 4 percent increase here and it doesn't necessarily mean that incidents against LGBT people have gone up 4 percent," he said. "There's an increase of 4 percent in what's been reported to us. And even now, all these years later, our sort of informed wisdom is that somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of what happens out there isn't reported at all."