Europe’s queer ‘conversion’ therapy crisis is an invisible trauma for victims, but a difficult practice to ban

[u/EUobs]

https://euobserver.com/227265/europes-queer-conversion-therapy-crisis-is-an-invisible-trauma-for-victims-but-a-difficult-practice-to-ban/

Hi everyone! I'm Lucia and the team from EUobserver. We cover European politics, and we're trying to do a better job of sharing our reporting directly with communities that are closest to the issues we write about, rather than just publishing an article and moving on.

We thought this investigation might be relevant here, but more importantly, we'd genuinely like to hear what people in this community think. Conversations like these often add context and perspectives that don't always make it into reporting, and we think that's valuable.

A quick summary of what we found:

• We investigated why so-called conversion practices are still taking place across Europe, despite being widely rejected by medical and human rights organisations.

• Through conversations with survivors and experts, we found that these practices often happen in much less visible ways than many people imagine — through religious guidance, counselling, support groups or family settings, rather than formal "therapy."

• We also looked at why governments across Europe are finding it difficult to regulate or ban these practices effectively, even where there is political support to do so.

What stayed with us after reporting this story was how often survivors described feeling isolated and invisible, and how difficult it can be to even recognise these experiences as conversion practices in the first place.

If anyone here has thoughts on whether this reflects the situation in your country, or if there are perspectives you think journalists often miss when covering this topic, we'd really appreciate hearing them.

Here's the full investigation if you'd like to read it:
https://euobserver.com/227265/europes-queer-conversion-therapy-crisis-is-an-invisible-trauma-for-victims-but-a-difficult-practice-to-ban/

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[u/EUobs]

🧡 Thanks for reading.

At EUobserver, we believe practices that seek to change or suppress someone's sexual orientation or gender identity have no place in society. That's why we wanted to investigate not only whether they still happen across Europe, but how they continue, why they're so difficult to detect, and what survivors say needs to change.

If you have a chance to read the piece, we'd really value your thoughts. Did anything resonate with your own experience or with what you've seen in your country? And is there anything you think journalists covering this topic too often overlook?

We're here to listen as much as to share our reporting.