The Absence of LGBTQI+-Friendly Justice Systems for Adolescent Victims of Dating Violence in Europe
K Vagionaki, M Toraki, N Pedioti, M PapadakakiAbstract
Across Europe, a profound gap persists between the formal recognition of LGBTQI+ rights and the operational reality of justice systems when adolescent victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) seek protection. Legislative milestones including the EU LGBTQI Equality Strategy 2020–2025 and the EU ratification of the Istanbul Convention in 2023 have created a formal legal architecture that condemns discrimination and violence. Yet this architecture remains disconnected from the institutional practice, professional culture, and victim-centred procedures necessary to protect young LGBTQI+ people in crisis. LGBTQI+ young people remain the most at-risk age group for hate-motivated harassment and discrimination across all age groups surveyed. This reporting gap reflects the heteronormative legal definitions, absence of affirmative professional training, stigmatising police encounters, and mediation procedures that prioritise reconciliation over safety. Family rejection further compounds institutional failure, trapping adolescent victims between abuse and the conditional, stigma-laden involvement of caregivers whose protective responses may coexist with rejection of the same-sex relationship itself.
A case of same-sex adolescent IPV referred to a university counselling programme in Greece will be presented, describing the profile of those involved, the conditions of prolonged abuse, delayed disclosure, and the procedural and psychosocial gaps encountered across family, social, and justice systems. LGBTQI+ adolescent IPV demands urgent, intersectional public health action with emphasis placed on mandatory affirmative training for justice and social care professionals, legal frameworks explicitly recognising adolescent dating violence regardless of relationship status, and accessible, stigma-free and trauma-informed support pathways that do not require young people to depend on family or institutional goodwill for their safety.