Violence against LGBTIQ+ Individuals in the Syrian Arab Republic

This bachelor thesis is a qualitative, small-n, empirically driven comparative study that examines the relationship between rebel group ideology and targeted violence against the LGBTIQ+ community. Two rebel groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, with different ideological beliefs, are examined and compared in relation to their level of violence against LGBTIQ+ individuals. Findings in this study suggest that religious groups are keener to use extreme violence against sexual minorities, and to target them explicitly, but further studies are needed to fully understand this targeting of sexual minorities in armed conflicts.