A 17 year-old girl has escaped from her home after being imprisoned inside for the past year. The girl, who lives in Rome, had been locked up by her family after they found out she was gay.

The girl had previously managed to escape to a police station but officers brought her back home due to the fact that she is a minor. She escaped for a second time last week and phoned an LGBT+ helpline, who arranged for her to be brought into a protected facility for minors.

The teenager’s name has not been released yet. Fabrizio Marrazzo of Acrigay, Italy’s LGBT+ organisation revealed that she was 16 when she was first imprisoned.

“The girl said she had a very bad family situation since her parents found out she was gay a year ago,” Marrazzo said. 

“She lived in a climate of continuous violence and she was locked in the house and unable to leave.

“When she was at home alone, the parents locked the door with her inside.”

Italy has recently seen a rise in hate crimes against LGBT+ people. Last month a gay couple in Verona were the subjects of a neo-Nazi attack. One of the men had petrol thrown at his face when he answered the door in the middle of the night. Their apartment building was vandalised with swastikas and graffiti reading “We will put you all in the gas chambers.”

Furthermore, a school in Milan, which supports the integration of refugees into the community was the target of neo-Nazi and homophobic vandalism.

As it stands, Italy does not have any laws preventing homophobia and transphobia. A legislation draft targeting these crimes was introduced in the Lower House of Parliament, but it has been waiting for approval for the past five years.

In light of the recent crimes, Marrazzo has called for a formal protest against the Senate’s inaction:

“We will invite trade unions and the LGBT+ community to a general strike on May 17 (International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) to show support for the law.”