Refugees in Austria being told to respect LGBT community

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January 26, 2016 | Sex & Society

Refugees in Austria being told to respect LGBT community

The Austrian government is welcoming new refugees with a pamphlet designed to explain Western values, including progressive views on homosexuality, consent and respect.

The pamphlets are actually an official response to the mass sexual assaults alleged to have taken place throughout Germany on New Year's Eve. Victims who were cornered, molested and robbed said that the men were North African migrants and newly arrived Syrian refugees.

The hand-out was designed to explain cultural norms and expectations in Europe. One image shows two men kissing and two women kissing with a big green check mark. The image of a man groping a woman has a red cross through it.

Another panel explains freedom of belief. "Freedom is important in Austria. Every person in Austria can have their own point of view. But freedom has its limits. One does not have the right to offend the dignity of another."

Switzerland is planning a similar brochure for newcomers.

"We want to show that there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment," explained a spokesperson. "The tenor will be: 'When you get here, you have to abide by our rules.

"We want to showcase our rules of conduct to the refugees and thereby also convey that we take seriously the concerns of the people. Basically, it is a deepening of what was already conveyed to them in the transit centres."

It's a start, but it will take more than a few images on a piece of paper to change hundreds of years of strongly held religious and cultural views. (It probably wouldn't hurt if everybody in Europe, newcomer or not, was given a copy of the hand-out as a reminder of how to be a decent human being.)