Gay Belgian Man Attacked, Fears Reporting Crime to Police

A gay man in Belgium was attacked and knocked to the ground, but fears reporting the homophobic hate crime to local police, Out reports.

Identified only as Eric, the victim explained to French magazine T�TU that his assailant attacked him on Friday, in broad daylight while he was walking in the Belgian city of Charleroi. The attacker called Eric a "big dirty faggot" and then punched him in the face when he turned around, knocking him to the ground.

After regaining his composure, he quickly returned home, explaining on social media that he spent the rest of the evening in fear. Eric was advised by a doctor to take a week off from work and to be examined by a neurologist.

Eric's mistrust of the local police stems from six years earlier, when he reported an abusive relationship he was in at the time. Police allegedly told him "you've got a pretty faggot face" and denied assistance with him "faggot problem." When he approached the officers' supervisors, he was advised that police would never help him again if he filed a complaint. Eric explained that he would rather suffer than "take the risk of being insulted again" by Belgian police. "That's why I don't believe in Belgian justice."