Makharashvili, N. (2026). Silence Is Not Protection: The Hidden Crisis of Sexual Violence Against LGBTQI+ Children and Youth. Safe Futures Hub, Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI).

Abstract

Global commitments to end violence against children increasingly promise universality, all children, leave no one behind, zero tolerance. Yet LGBTQI+ children and youth, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex, remain persistently excluded from child protection systems worldwide. This paper argues that sexual violence against LGBTQI+ children is both disproportionately prevalent and systematically obscured by stigma, discriminatory laws, institutional failures, and silence. That silence is not neutral. It actively places children at risk.