Young, Queer & Away from Home

About the Project

Did you know?

Yet, not all of them know where to go, and not all social services and professionals are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to support their specific needs. This is where the Young, Queer & Away project comes into play!

Who are we?

Young, Queer & Away from home is a 2-year project studying the views and lived experiences of LGBTIQ+ young people who had to live away from their home before turning 18 in the EU or the UK (e.g. they were kicked out, ran away, were homeless, had to stay in a shelter or with friends/other relatives, etc).

The project is co-led by Missing Children Europe, IGLYO — The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation, and the University of Portsmouth.

What is the project aim?

Through research, an online training for professionals, a resource hub, an awareness raising campaign and policy recommendations, we aim to support LGBTIQ+ young people and children under 18 who are at risk of homelessness and exclusion from their home, as well as to provide relevant professionals and service providers with the right tools to support them.

Who are our target audiences?

The project primarily focuses on LGBTIQ+ young people who experienced living away from home before turning 18 in the EU. Living away from home can include for instance being forced to leave by their parents or legal guardians, running away, having to stay in a shelter or with friends/other relatives, being taken in the custody of social services or foster care, having to seek asylum in another country, and more experiences.

In parallel, the project also focuses on practitioners in the EU or the UK who are likely to support LGBTIQ+ young people and children under 18 who are in these situations, including homeless shelters, social services, child protection services, missing children helplines, and others.

How will we achieve our mission?

In a nutshell, between May 2024 and March 2026, Missing Children Europe, IGLYO, and the University of Portsmouth will perform the following activities:

1. Surveys & Interviews

We are collecting data through interviews and two multilingual surveys: the first one for LGBTIQ+ young people who had to live away from their home before turning 18; the second one for service providers who have already supported them.

2. Report for Professionals

Based on this data, we will develop a report for professionals who can play a role in prevention and support.

3. Online Info Hub

We will map out existing shelters, organisations and services in Europe in an online resource hub for LGBTIQ+ young people and children under 18 at risk of homelessness and exclusion from their home.

4. Online & Offline Training for Professionals

We will develop and deliver an online training for professionals to teach them how to adapt their services to the specific needs of LGBTIQ+ young people and children under 18.

5. Information and awareness-raising campaign

We will run an information and awareness-raising campaign to disseminate the research findings, training resources, info hub, and policy recommendations.

6. Policy recommendations and symposium at the EP

We will draft policy recommendations and organise a policy symposium at the European Parliament to present them to EU and national policy-makers.

Who are our Advisory Boards?

In the course of this project, we are supported by a Youth Board consisting of 5 LGBTIQ+ young people with experience of living away from home before turning 18, as well as a Board of Professionals consisting of 5 experts from various relevant services. Meet the Boards.

Stay tuned!

We'll regularly post updates on this page as the project moves forward.

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“LGBTIQ+ Missing - The voice of LGBTIQ+ young people with experience of going missing before the age of 18” is co-funded by the European Union under the call CERV-2023-EQUAL (project number 101144825).

Young Queer & Away from Home Surveys & Interviews

Countless LGBTIQ+ young people and children under 18 live away from their home and have to get by on their own. Many are kicked out by their parents or guardians because of who they are; many decide to run away because it has become unsafe for them to stay. Some turn to other relatives and friends; others seek help from social services and shelters. Yet, not all of them know where to go, and not all social services and professionals are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to support their specific needs.

The Surveys

With this in mind, the Young, Queer & Away from Home Project is carrying out two anonymous multilingual surveys to better understand the stories of LGBTIQ+ young people who have to leave their home before turning 18, and the experiences of the professionals and service providers who are likely to support them:

🧩 Survey for LGBTIQ+ Young People with Lived Experience

The first survey is addressed to LGBTIQ+ young people between 18 and 29 years old who had to live away from their home before turning 18 in the EU or the UK (e.g. ran away, were kicked out, were homeless, had to stay in a shelter or with friends/other relatives, etc). The survey is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Russian. The deadline is 31 August 2025.

🧩🧩 Survey for Practitioners & Service Providers

The second survey is addressed to practitioners & service providers (e.g. homeless shelters, LGBTIQ+ organisations, refugee centres, child protection services, social services, etc.) in the EU or the UK who have supported LGBTIQ+ children and young people under 18 who had to live away from their home (e.g. they ran away, were kicked out, were homeless, etc.). The survey will be available from Tuesday 22 July onwards in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Russian. The deadline is 31 August 2025.

The Interviews

Whether you are an LGBTIQ+ young person with lived experience or a practitioner, you can also sign up for an interview, where we will explore your experience more in depth.

Share our Surveys!

If you do not belong to any of these two target groups, you can still support our project by sharing the surveys widely on social media, as well as to people with relevant experience. You can use our communications kit for visuals and text to help you share the survey.

Questions

For any questions, please contact Professor Karen Shalev (She/her), School of Criminology and Justice of the University of Portsmouth, at karen.shalev@port.ac.uk.

Need Support?

Participating in this survey or interviews can be significantly triggering and potentially re-traumatising for you, if you have experienced going missing as an LGBTIQ+ child.

First of all, we invite you to practice self-care and self-compassion. If you do not feel ready to share details about your past experiences, you can step away from this space.

If you are looking for support for yourself as an LGBTIQ+ young person with a past experience of going missing, we invite you to contact IGLYO Member Organisations working to support queer youth. The full list of Member Organisations can be found here.

Specific organisations where you can find support in your language are linked below. This list focuses on organisations which provide services to young LGBTIQ+ people and is non-exhaustive.

Russian

ECOM (Estonia)

Spanish

ACATHI (Spain)
FELGTBI+ (Spain)
It Gets Better España (Spain)

If someone close to you has gone missing or you suspect is at risk of going missing, you can contact the 116 000 hotline. In 32 countries across Europe, organisations operate the 116 000 hotline providing a free and 24/7 service to children (at risk of) going missing and their families. Anyone involved in a case of child disappearance (the child, a peer, a friend, a family member, carer or teacher) can call 116 000 and receive immediate emotional, psychological, social, legal and administrative support. In most member states, the services can also be reached through a variety of different text-based communication platforms such as a chat service.

Advisory Boards

Two paid boards with different expertise and experience support the Consortium partners in the implementation of the Young, Queer & Away from Home project.

Advisory Youth Board

The Advisory Youth Board consists of 6 LGBTIQ+ young people under 25 who had to leave their home before turning 18 years old. Based on their lived experience, the members of the Youth Board contribute to a variety of tasks ranging from advocacy and research to communications and dissemination throughout the project.

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Blin Sali (He/him), Albania

Blin is a 23-year-old transgender activist from Albania. He founded and leads a support group for transmasculine individuals, organises cultural events with and for the LGBTIQ+ community, and represents TGD voices through various advocacy efforts. Blin also contributes to the community through music and art, aiming to help LGBTIQ+ people in Albania feel seen and valued.

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Eleonore Strehl-Firquet (She/her), France

Eleonore is a passionate psychology student committed to supporting young LGBTQIA+ individuals. When she's not immersed in her studies, she enjoys reading, following F1 racing, and engaging in various sports. Her dedication to helping others is matched by her diverse range of interests.

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Hitesh (They/them), Belgium

Hitesh holds a dual master's degree in social and cultural anthropology from KU Leuven and NTNU, Norway. Lately, they have been invested in the study of "Affective Technologies and Postcolonial Condition(s)of EUrope". Nevertheless, their field of interest intersects (in)security studies from feminist perspectives and science and technology studies, with a hint of psychoanalysis. They are invested in rethinking object(s) of analysis by shifting the gaze of field(s) with feminist epistemologies in science, technology and society.

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Lenny (He/him), Switzerland

Lenny has been a queer activist for several years, mainly as a board member of the queer youth organisation Milchjugend, which aims to empower young queer people. He is also Art Director of the lila. queer festival and Community Health Worker at Checkpoint Zurich.

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Theodore Nguyen (It/She/Him), United Kingdom

Theo (any pronouns) is a 19 year-old non-binary person living in Wales. He’s currently at university studying marine biology, and works with Mermaids on their youth advisory panel. He feels passionately about queer organising. In his free time he loves to climb, hike and be outdoors.

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Expert Board of Professionals

The Expert Board of Professionals gathers five professionals representing either LGBTIQ+ organisations or service providers from various sectors that come in contact with LGBTIQ+ young people and children who are or are at risk of homelessness and exclusion.

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Dr. Brian J. Frederick (He/They), United States

Brian is a queer/cultural criminologist and an Assistant Professor at SUNY Empire State University in Brooklyn, NY. His research focuses on the intersection of LGBTQIA+ folx and crime, deviance and transgression. As a teen, he was a runaway on the streets of Los Angeles and New York City.

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Julia Kata (She/her), Poland

Julia is a psychologist, mediator in training. She's been working for the transgender and non-binary community for over decade. She's also a co-author of research, scientific and educational publications. She designs and conducts trainings on inclusive language, LGBTQIA+ Rights for institutions, professionals and business. She's one of the facilitators of the first meeting of young Intersex persons in Europe.

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Mario Colamarino (He/him), Italy

Mario is a jurist, consultant, and president of the Italian LGBTQIA+ association C.C.O. "Mario Mieli" in Rome, serving from 2015 to 2017 and again from 2021 onwards. He is also the spokesperson and chairman of Rome Pride.

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Sara Granath (She/her), Sweden

Sara is a senior advisor with expertise in children in migration and displacement working for Save the Children Sweden. With over 20 years of advocating for children's rights and especially refugee children's rights she is passionate about ensuring all children have equal access to services and opportunities and are treated with dignity and respect.

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Sergio Pérez Barranco (He/him), Belgium

Sergio is Policy Officer at FEANTSA, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, which is the only Europen NGO focusing exclusively on the fight to end homelessness in Europe. He leads the organisation's work in the youth and LGBTIQ+ policy areas, and also works on migration.

Resource Hub: Find Support!

The map below gathers resources spread across Europe that LGBTIQ+ youth in need can contact to ask for direct support or redirection towards competent services. You can use the Map's search tool to type the name of your country and get a list of all the resources available in your area.

The map and guide gather the following resource types:

🏰 LGBTIQ+ Shelters: Organisations providing accommodation and support specifically to LGBTIQ+ young people

🏠 Youth Shelters: Organisations providing accommodation and support specifically to young people

🌈 General LGBTIQ+ Organisations: Organisations who do not provide accommodation but can receive support requests and either support you or redirect you depending on your needs

💬 116 111 Child Helplines: Free numbers offering general advice as well as support and counselling to young people.

☎ 116 000 Missing Children Hotlines: Free numbers specifically for children, young people and adults calling for matters related to going missing.

More resources are being added over time. If you are an organisation providing support to LGBTIQ+ young people in need, you can contact us at network@iglyo.org to appear on the map.

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Ongoing

Take our Surveys & Interviews by 31 August 2025

We are looking to hear from two audiences through interviews and anonymous and multilingual surveys: 1) LGBTIQ+ young people between 18 and 29 who had to live away from their home before turning 18 (e.g. who ran away, were kicked out, were homeless, stayed in a shelter, etc), and 2) practitioners who supported LGBTIQ+ youth and children under 18 in those situations (e.g. a shelter, LGBTIQ+ organisation, social or child protection service, refugee centre, etc). More info.

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Past

Call for an Advisory Youth Board | 4 June 2024

We're looking for LGBTQI young people between 18-24 years old in Europe with experience of going missing before turning 18 to join the Advisory Youth Board of the project. Read our call and apply by 9 June 2024.

Project Launch Press Release | 31 May 2024

On 31 May 2024, we officially set sail and launched the project's pilot phase through a this press release. Back then, the project was still called "LGBTIQ+ Missing Children", which we later changed to reflect the project's aims and diversity of experiences more clearly.

Consortium

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IGLYO — The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation

IGLYO — The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation is the world's largest network dedicated to LGBTQI young people and their rights. We represent the voice of over 115 Member Organisation in over 40 countries across the Council of Europe Region. IGLYO advances the rights of LGBTQI young people, fights for equality and inclusion, and empowers LGBTQI youth voices through international training and events, thematic research and advocacy campaigns, online tools and resources, networking activities, and much more. Visit their website

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Missing Children Europe

Missing Children Europe represents 32 Non-Governmental Organisations active in 27 countries across Europe for the prevention, protection and support of missing and sexually exploited children and their families. They provide the link between research, policies, and organisations on the ground to protect children from any form of violence, abuse, or neglect that is caused by or results from them going missing. Missing Children Europe coordinates the network of 116000 hotlines for missing children, and the network of cross border family mediators and facilitates coordination of cases that involve cross-border issues, ensuring that vulnerable children receive the help they need no matter where they are in Europe. Visit their website

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University of Portsmouth

The University of Portsmouth hosts The Centre for the Study of Missing Persons, provides a clear focus for research into missing persons, for knowledge transfer and for educational provision, to academics, to professionals in the missing persons community and to relatives of missing people. Visit their website

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Funding

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Co-funded by the European Union

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