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Still Complicated > Police services

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  1. Acknowledgements
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
  4. Methodology
  5. How we define bi+
  6. Demographics
  7. Key findings
  8. Community and belonging
  9. Belonging to the LGBT+ community
  10. Belonging to a bi+ community
  11. Belonging to a ‘straight community’
  12. Summary (Community and belonging)
  13. Bi+ experiences in LGBTI+ services
  14. Biphobia in LGBTI+ spaces
  15. Other barriers to participation in LGBTI+ spaces
  16. Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience
  17. NHS services
  18. Sexual health services
  19. Police services
  20. Religious services
  21. Other services
  22. Summary (Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience)
  23. Bi+ intersectionality
  24. Employment
  25. Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience
  26. Covid-19 related healthcare
  27. Social challenges
  28. Financial hardships
  29. Bi+ community groups
  30. Summary (Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience)
  31. Good practice
  32. Recommendations
  33. Increased knowledge and understanding
  34. Avoiding assumptions and generalising
  35. Dealing with discrimination
  36. Bi+ specific support and inclusion
  37. Increase representation of bi+ people
  38. Resources and further reading
  39. Bibliography
  40. Glossary
Report Chapters
  1. Acknowledgements
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
  4. Methodology
  5. How we define bi+
  6. Demographics
  7. Key findings
  8. Community and belonging
  9. Belonging to the LGBT+ community
  10. Belonging to a bi+ community
  11. Belonging to a ‘straight community’
  12. Summary (Community and belonging)
  13. Bi+ experiences in LGBTI+ services
  14. Biphobia in LGBTI+ spaces
  15. Other barriers to participation in LGBTI+ spaces
  16. Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience
  17. NHS services
  18. Sexual health services
  19. Police services
  20. Religious services
  21. Other services
  22. Summary (Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience)
  23. Bi+ intersectionality
  24. Employment
  25. Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience
  26. Covid-19 related healthcare
  27. Social challenges
  28. Financial hardships
  29. Bi+ community groups
  30. Summary (Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience)
  31. Good practice
  32. Recommendations
  33. Increased knowledge and understanding
  34. Avoiding assumptions and generalising
  35. Dealing with discrimination
  36. Bi+ specific support and inclusion
  37. Increase representation of bi+ people
  38. Resources and further reading
  39. Bibliography
  40. Glossary

Still Complicated

Police services

The police, along with religious services, was one of the most “unused” services within the bi+ community. Although this was not entirely unexpected, as people only usually engage with the police in the event of a crime, the rest of the data hinted that this was not the only reason for low engagement.

The proportion of people who experienced biphobia from the police rose from 6% in 2013 to 15% in 2022, the only service to show an increase with time. Over half of respondents, 53%, were never comfortable sharing their bi+ identity with the police. Through the comments, it was possible to see that there was a lot of fear in the community regarding the police. Many who had used the police also felt that their situation was not taken seriously.

“I don’t feel comfortable sharing anything with the police.”

“I had to report a hate crime a couple of years ago. They asked what I expected them to do about it.”

There are historical reasons for a reluctance to engage with the police. Specific crimes relating to sexual activity between men remained in place until 2003 in England and Wales, and 2013 in Scotland. However, this does not explain the worsening of the situation in the last ten years. Mistrust by bi+ people of the police has been shown in previous research.

Equality Network’s Hate Crime Report 2017[19] found that four out of five bi people never reported hate crimes to the police, the least likely among LGBT+ people. Reasons for under-reporting included believing that nothing would be done, fearing the consequences of reporting, and hearing of other people’s poor experiences with reporting.

“I had to have the police round to my house for a licence check this year and de-queered my flat first.”

Bi+ people are still avoiding engagement with the police. There is a lack of perceived improvement of bi+ inclusion. Police Scotland need to work on regaining the trust of bi+ people and the LGBTI+ community more broadly. Recent moves from Police Scotland to recognise racism, misogyny, and homophobia within their ranks[20], and their apology to the LGBTI+ community for their role in historic criminalisation and ongoing harms[21], are a start but more work remains to be done.

Footnotes

  1. Pearson, H., Magić, J. (2017) ‘Scottish LGBTI Hate Crime Report 2017’, ‘Reporting hate crime’ section, pg. 40–41 (Return to reference [19])
  2. Iffla, R. (2023) ‘Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights Independent Review Group (EDIHR IRG) – Interim Report’ and Bond, E. (2023) ‘Sex Equality and Tackling Misogyny Update’ (Return to reference [20])
  3. Farrell, J. (2024) ‘Apology to the LGBTQI+ communities of Scotland’ (Return to reference [21])

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