IGLYO — The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation, in partnership with Missing Children Europe and the University of Portsmouth, has launched the LGBTIQ+ Missing Children Survey. The survey is part of the ongoing project LGBTIQ+ Missing Children, which aims to study the views and lived experiences of LGBTIQ+ young people who “went missing” (see definition below) before they turned 18 years old in EU countries, with the aim to positively impact LGBTIQ+ children who are at risk of being in such situations.

A “missing” child is typically defined as any person under the age of 18 whose whereabouts are unknown. In the context of this project, we consider that a child is “missing” when they leave their place of residence, either after deciding it or being forced to, either by informing those responsible for them of their location or not. This definition can be used to describe the situation of children who run away from their family home or main place of residence, or are being forced to leave it, among other situations. This definition is not exhaustive and can also include wider experiences, such as being homeless, living with other relatives, friends or foster families, being in the care of social services or foster care, being an unaccompanied asylum seeker, or being a victim of trafficking.

 

There is a dearth of research in Europe on the relationship between being LGBTIQ+ and “going missing”, which is why this survey aims to collect information about the experiences of young LGBTIQ+ people with lived experience in order to give solid foundations to the whole project. You can contribute to this valuable project by participating in the anonymous survey if you are over 18 years old, you identify as an LGBTIQ+ person and you went missing in the EU or in the UK as per the definition above before turning 18 years old.

The survey should only take 10-15 minutes to complete. No questions are mandatory. If you are not comfortable with any of them, you will be able to skip to the next one. The survey is available in 8 languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish. 

The results of this study will be collated and reported back to Missing Children Europe and 116 000 helplines across Europe. Through research, advocacy, training and campaigning, the LGBTIQ+ Missing Children project will address intersectional discrimination and inequality experienced on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics to foster prevention, support LGBTIQ+ children at risk, and inform appropriate services on how to provide adequate support.

For any questions, please contact:

Missing Children Europe’s project coordinator: Eugenia Miyashita (eugenia.miyashita@missingchildreneurope.eu)

IGLYO’s LGBTIQ+ Missing Children team: Ale (ale@iglyo.org) and Jeremy (jeremy@iglyo.org).